Happy Anniversary
by SubZeroChimera
Summary: After 200 years, a certain bloodthirsty reploid is back. But how long will the world remain blissfully ignorant of his presence? Or more importantly, will Omega be able to resist revealing himself? Expect long update times. WARNING: lots of violence.
1. Good morning, sunshine

Disclaimer: I don't own the Mega/Rockman series, or any of the characters contained within this fiction. Alright, maybe some, but unless I tell you who they are specifically, then assume that they belong to Capcom. I will not put disclaimers up on every chapter, as they waste space, and because the readers are smart enough (I hope) to figure out who I own and who I don't. This means you.

SubZeroChimera here! Thanks to the two of the people who reviewed Happy Birthday, I've decided to write something of a sequel.

No flames or spam, please. If you spot something that you think is off, then tell me (nicely). I appreciate any and all reviews that are constructive!

Okay then, Enjoy!

**EDIT** - Okay people, after checking back on what I'd written, I realized that this fic needed a revamp. It seems that has updated itself since I wrote these first chapter, so now I have to go back and fix all the spots where dividers used to be (before the revamp). For older readers; nothing much will be changed, only the occasional bad spot of spelling, grammar, etc. For newer readers, well, I can only say one thing. Thank you very much for reading!

* * *

Flames erupted from the center of the ship, the once awe-inspiring monstrosity struggling for its last breaths. Lifeless fragments of flesh-like metal exploded and separated away from the body, lights flickered and died along with a multitude of mechaniloids. All aboard who could flee, fled.

The Ouroboros was falling.

x x x x x

Deep within an underground chamber, an ancient god stirred from his rest. A shock wave from some sort of explosion pounded through air and soil, causing small pebbles to clatter around into each other. The god opened his glowing, blood red eyes...

And yawned.

"Of all the times for me to get disturbed, it just _had_ to be now," grumpily complained the aged demon. For centuries, ever since being sealed away from an unsuspecting world, the restless warrior had trained vigorously. Pushing his body far past its limit, he'd gained strength where others would have died long ago. Even with this, his power core developed so that there would never be a need to eat an E-crystal again. And when he didn't feel like training, he meditated.

Before being sealed away, he would have sought conflict and chaos, just to see how much blood he could spill. But that rash, thoughtless behaviour had caused him to be "destroyed", imprisoned for what would likely be forever. So he had vowed to fight only those who he felt were worthy (or just stupid enough to challenge him). When he wasn't training or meditating, there was little else to do except bang his head against the wall. Literally.

Omega, the once proud god of destruction, had changed considerably. He had also reached a great milestone in his lifetime.

Today was the 200th anniversary of when he was sealed away.

Omega sighed. On the _one_ day he had let himself have a break, he was being disturbed. And, he thought bitterly, by something that he didn't even know about. An idiot with a nuke, probably.

Earthquakes suddenly shook the cavern, ominous cracks and groans straining out from the walls and ceiling. Omega looked up at some newly formed fractures in the roof of his "home".

And had about one second to dodge a falling boulder.

Dust clouds rose from where the shattered rock landed. Only one meter from there, Omega stood wide-eyed at the van-sized chunk of ceiling that had almost landed right on top of him.

"That would've hurt..." was all he could say, stunned. Soon, a sound came from above his head. Another large rock fell, but he was ready for it. Again, a noise, a boulder fell. Within seconds, Omega was launching himself every which way to avoid the bulky projectiles coming from the ceiling.

_At this rate, I'll be buried alive!_ Omega thought to himself, slightly panicked. Then a thought struck him. He bolted for the only doorway in and out of his prison. Miraculously, no boulders were blocking it, but the state of the walls around it did not look as promising. Without pausing for a minute, Omega enthusiastically tackled the door, causing it to fall down with a big _bang_. What Omega saw on the other side made him a very happy god indeed.

The expansive death-pit of spikes and disappearing platforms, which used to be impassable, now lay under fragments of rubble. Rubble that he could use to cross the pit! Without a backwards glance, Omega was hopping and leaping gracefully across, avoiding more rocks and the remaining disappearing blocks. Once on the other side, he made a mad dash to the opposite side of the tunnel-like cavern, hoping desperately for a way out. He found it. Part of the wall had collapsed and light was shining through.

The mad dash continued, straight towards the light, closer, closer...

And out!

Exactly two hundred years after being abandoned in pitch black darkness, Omega was free! Free as a bird, to do anything he wanted. And the first thing he did...

"Ow, ow OW!! Goddamnit, _OW_!" was stare at the sun.

Think, people, of the popular prank of turning the lights off, and when people finally adjust to the dark, _click_, you turn them back on. Well, let's just say that after two hundred years of near-black darkness, the sun is a very, _very_ big lightbulb.

"OOOOOOOOOOWWWWW...!" Omega began cursing and muttering things extremely unprintable. Shortly, however, his eyes were adjusted to the light of day (the joys of being a reploid!). Recovering from his bright experience, Omega set off from where he was. Walking a few steps ahead, he stopped. Why was everything getting dark again? Small, strange meteors were falling from the sky, along with larger ones, and some Mechaniloids and parts too. Omega looked up to where they appeared to be coming from. When he saw what was there, it took three full seconds for him to realize what was happening.

"HOLY SHI-!!"

_KURKRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSHH_!!

The ultimate biometal, Ouroboros, had fallen.

* * *

There, you go, chapter one is finished. I hope you liked it, as there will be more from where that came from!

AN- all the chapters of this fic will likely be short, so I can update more often. I'll also try to update at least once a week.

AN (to self) – Man, as if. If only the chapters were short...


	2. After the crash

SubZeroChimera here! Just wanted to let you know; that shorts chapters thing I said? Well, it may not hold true for long. But enough of me dawdling. On with the show!

* * *

The sun set slowly, the skies turning orange, pink, purple, and other marvellous pigments, signalling the arrival of dusk. A deep, smoking crater contrasted sharply against the soft greens and browns of the surrounding forest. Within the crater, the wreckage of Ouroboros lay, faintly glowing red as if it were covered with the blood of a radioactive monster. Fragments of the ship, in assorted sizes, were haphazardly placed all across the crash site, some with miniature craters of their own.

A pile of rubble began moving. Crashes, bangs, and argumentative voices were heard from inside.

"Move over, you idiot! How am I supposed to blast down the wall if you're in front of it?!"

"I _would_ move, if a certain reploid on top of me gave me the chance to!"

"CURRENT SITUATION INESCAPABLE."

"No shit, Sherlock!"

"DESIST VOCAL FUNCTIONS OR BE TERMINATED."

"I love you too."

"COMMENCING DESTRUCTION OF TARGET."

"And just how do you plan on doing that?"

"RESPONSE; LIKE THIS."

More thuds, scraping noises, and other similar sounds came from the pile, along with some yelps and grunts. Without warning, the pile was blasted apart, two bodies sent flying out from inside the pile. A third walked out of the hole that had been created, looking down at one of them.

"I _told_ you to move over." said the third. The figure was female, with orange armour. She held two large knuckle busters, one in each hand.

"Geeze, Atlas, that really hurt!" responded the one she had been looking at. He was younger in appearance than her, and wore blue armor. There was a 'ponytail' on his head, which was broken in places.

"Then it sucks to be you, Thetis." Atlas replied. She walked over to where the first body had been flung, kicking roughly in the back when she arrived.

"Wakey wakey, Siarnaq." Siarnaq partially rolled over, giving his assailant a rather rude gesture with his middle finger.

"TERMINATION OF NEW TARGET TO COMMENCE WHEN BODILY FUNCTIONS STABILIZE," stated the purple ninja.

"Hey Thetis, I think I made him mad!" Atlas shouted back at Thetis, even though the statement was more directed at the man on the ground in front of her. She received a sudden kick in the stomach for her efforts.

"BODILY FUNCTIONS STABLE. PREPARE TO DIE."

"Glad you're okay," wheezed Atlas.

A new voice cut in, interrupting any hopes for a fight.

"And now that you know that you're all okay, could one of you GET OVER HERE AND HELP ME OUT ALREADY!?"

The trio looked around. Within a couple of seconds, they spotted the source of the demanding voice. It came from underneath a mattress-sized chunk of Ouroboros' wall (or floor. They'd both looked the same). Two green armoured legs were protruding out from underneath it.

"Aeolus? Is that you?" asked Atlas, trotting over.

"Yes it's me! Now get me out!!" He shot back angrily.

"Okay, okay, just give us a second" Atlas said. She grabbed the chunk, throwing it aside with her superhuman strength.

"About time," snapped Aeolus, getting up.

"A thank you would've been nice."

"I guess I'm not nice, then."

The two walked back over to where Siarnaq and Thetis were standing on yet another fragment, rubbing at various injuries. All four of the mega men were battered and bruised, but the two were the worst off after Atlas' attack.

"What the heck happened, anyways?" asked Thetis, looking at a nasty scrape on his arm.

"I don't know. All I remember is trying to get to Albert, then getting in a fight with the Model ZX." answered Atlas.

"Then that stupid talking biometal, Model Z, did something weird to us. Temporarily froze us, I think." Aeolus added, putting a hand to his hurting temple.

"Actually, I did more than that." The group turned around to where the voice had come from.

"MODEL Z!" They roared in unison, pointing their weapons at the floating biometal.

"Well, at least you remember me," said Model Z, with a slightly sarcastic tone.

"How did you survive the crash? Just what _did_ you do to us? Explain this instant!" demanded Aeolus.

"For your first question, Aeolus, let's just say that you make a great meatshield."

The temple on Aeolus' head bulged.

"And as for your second question...why ask me? Just ask your biometals." it explained.

"Ask our biometals? How're we supposed to do that? They don't talk!" inquired Thetis.

"We do now," said a feminine voice. Thetis was suddenly forced out of his megamerged state as Model L began to float in front of him. The same happened to the other three.

"Huh? What the-?" was all they could stutter (minus Siarnaq. His eyes just widened).

"Oh, come on, we aren't all mutes," said Atlas' biometal, Model F.

"Before Albert gave us to you, he suppressed our minds so that we couldn't object to the way we were being treated," Model H explained.

"But now, thanks to Model Z, we are back to normal," finished Model P.

The former mega men kept staring in disbelief. Thetis finally spoke up.

"So, does this mean that you don't wanna work with us anymore...?"

The five biometals shared a quick glance with each other before looking back to the mega men.

"Not unless you promise us something," said Model L.

"Anything!"

"Quit hurting innocent people in order to achieve your own goals. From now on, fight for justice and truth. Protect those you once sought to destroy, and if you still wish to attain your old goals, then do it so that it will also create peace and happiness for others." Model Z stated.

The mega men shifted, gazing at each other and at their biometals. None of them was quite sure how to respond. An uneasy atmosphere settled over the whole group. No one spoke for several minutes.

Then Thetis spoke up again, "All I ever wanted to do is to save the environment. I'll try my best not to not to hurt others, if you'll still help me, Model L."

If she had been able to, Model L would have smiled, "Yes, I'll help you. Saving the environment is a noble cause, one that I fully support." She returned to Thetis, and they merged.

The dark atmosphere returned, despite Thetis' smiling. That is, until Model F turned to Model Z.

"You know, instead of that cheesy speech, you _could've_ just told them to go and work for Legion..."

"My speech was _not_ cheesy."

"Yes it was."

"No, it wasn't"

"Yes it was."

"No, it wasn't

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

Their argument continued, breaking the atmosphere. Everyone smirked, even Siarnaq, although you couldn't see it under his scarf. Aeolus lowered his head for a moment, then raised it again.

"I could do that." Everyone turned to face him, except for Model Z and F, who were attempting a fight (which was considerably harder without appendages, so they had to resort to tackling one other).

"I think I could too," Atlas said.

"AFFIRMATIVE," droned Siarnaq.

"Work for Legion? Great idea! I'm in!" yelled Thetis enthusiastically.

"It's decided, then!" Model F said as he flung himself at Model Z one last time, sending him flying into a small boulder, then floated over to Atlas.

"We're going to Legion!"

The other biometals went to their respective mega man and merged, leaving Model Z to float dizzily back to where he had been. Quickly shaking himself out of his stupor, he triumphantly announced;

"Then forward we go, to our new futures! To Legion!"

Wind howled past as the group stood, ready to head off to their new destinies. Ouroboros' corpse glowed eerily in the dark of the new night, the sun having set several minutes ago. The pieces of the ship cast shadows over everything that was not illuminated by its dim red light, and the moon and stars were nowhere to be seen. Several tense minutes passed.

"Uh, guys? Which direction is Legion, anyway?"

Everyone except Thetis, the one who had spoken, crashed to the floor. Within a second, they'd gotten back up. But before they could begin any sort of arguments, the platform they were on began to shift.

"What the hell? I thought Ouroboros was dead!"

"I did too!"

"Groooaaaaaaaaahhrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh..." moaned the rock.

"Is it still alive? Impossible!"

"RESPONSE; OUROBOROS CRASHED, SYSTEMS CANNOT HAVE REMAINED OPERABLE."

Terror rose in the mega men's systems as they felt a new aura radiate from the piece of rubble.

"Ooooooaaaaahhooooooooooohhhh..." The rock shifted again, this time more energetically.

"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!!" screamed Thetis as he bolted off the platform and away into the distance.

"WAIT FOR US!!" the other mega men ran quickly in the same direction.

"WAIT FOR _ME_!!" Model Z yelled, doing his best to catch up, despite having no legs.

x x x x x

"Urgh... Ahh... Grngh..."

The rock kept shifting, long after the mega men had run off.

"Almost... there... Gk..."

It began to lift into the air.

"HRROOOAAAARR!" The rock flew, ten feet away from where it had been only moments before.

"Heh heh... got it..." A figure with glowing red eyes and long white hair stood up, brushing off dust and grit from the immense boulder he had just thrown.

"Damn, that was one _hell_ of a wakeup call."

* * *

Chapter two, over! Chapter three, coming soon! Stay tuned!


	3. Wake up call

Disclaimer; All characters in this chapter belong to Capcom, except Amethyst. He's mine.

Sorry if it took a little longer to update than expected. Stuff came up. The once a week thing might not hold up so well...

Also, to those who may be confused; In my story, some parts of Ouroboros crashed into the land, albeit not far off from the sea. I think the whole thing was _supposed_ to have crashed into the ocean, but heck, it could have flown around a bit before it went down, right?

Anyways, on with the story!

* * *

Putting his hand to his head, Omega walked out from the hollow in the rubble, sitting down on the dirty ground.

"Ouch... Of all the welcoming parties I've been to, that one took the cake."

He rubbed at a large fracture in his helmet, wincing as his fingers touched his bleeding scalp underneath. A trickle of blood ran from under the helmet's gem, down the middle of his forehead, and across the right cheek until it dripped off his chin. The trickle soon died down as his auto-repair systems kicked in.

Omega looked at the rest of his armour, noting with some surprise that it was also fractured in numerous places. His forearm guards were shattered, about to fall off. It was a similar situation with his leg and chest guards. The only thing that _wasn't_ about to fall off was the abdomen guard that he wore (people calling it "underwear" found themselves spontaneously dying). Not that there was anything he needed to cover up there; He was strictly a killing machine.

He sighed. It would take a long time for him to repair his armour.

_Chink_... _Tinkle_..._Clatter_...

Omega looked down at the fragments of his armour on the ground.

A _very_ long time...

Suddenly, he saw them. Tracks. Not only that, they were fairly recent, appearing to run at a frenetic pace. The tracks were from four different people heading towards the same direction.

Four people... no armour... Omega began wondering whether or not a conflict would be a wise choice. He may be the god of destruction, but he wasn't stupid. Besides, after having an airship dropped on him, he wasn't too keen on giving someone a reason to drop something _else_ on him. With that, he turned and began jogging in the opposite direction.

It was a few hours later, the moon was full and bright. He was at the edge of the forest, having passed through it quickly (less armour, less weight to carry). Wind rustled the leaves of the great trees behind him, small birds and insects sang peaceful tunes. The occasional nocturnal mechaniloid glanced about from between the veil of arboreal verdance, while the stars reflected silvery lights amongst the green shades. Omega was in awe at the vastness of the forest. Because of the ancient wars, forests hadn't able to grow to the size of the one he had just traversed.

Before him lay something more familiar; a dusty plain covered sparsely with grass. In the light of the moon, he could see rolling hills and dunes of sand. Hills and dunes that could provide cover. Omega kept jogging.

x x x x x

Meanwhile, the sun began to rise. It was 4 o'clock in the morning, and Master Mikhail was about to pour some tea. He stopped when a knock sounded on his door. Grumbling about being interrupted, he went over and opened it. Standing outside was a tall, red haired man with a beard, sword and robe.

"Thomas? What brings you here so early in the morning?"

Thomas, Master Thomas to most, had a solemn look on his face.

"Mikhail, you'd better come and see this."

Mikhail, curious, followed the leader of the Sage Trinity as he led him through several halls and rooms, stopping just outside the one where visitors to the Legion were sent. Thomas pointed at a one-way window that showed the entirety of the room and its inhabitants. What Mikhail saw was both amazing and frightening.

Four fully merged Mega men, along with the missing biometal, Model Z, were trembling in fear and muttering about haunted ships.

Mikhail sighed. This would be a _long_ day...

x x x x x

Dawn had broken, painting the sky as if it were a watercolour portrait. The sands and brown grasses blew gently in the shifting air, while miniature dust funnels danced across the horizon. All of this beauty was lost on Omega, who was having a small problem.

Apparently, the future had robotic parasites.

"Goddamn! Itchy little bastards! Get offa me!!" roared the red demon as he furiously clawed at his body.

The parasites continued their assault, heedless of Omega as he tried to fight back against them. Without his armour, they ran freely over his skin and through his hair. But the more he scratched and bit at them, the more viciously they attacked. Unable to bear it any longer, he dropped and began flailing against the coarse sand. A small dust cloud sprang up as he rolled down a dune.

With a thump, he landed at the base of the sand pile. Shaking himself back and forth, he twisted, rolled, and threw dust over himself to get them off. Some of the ant-sized parasites fled, but most retained their irritating grips. He even resorted to jumping up and down, landing on whatever body part had the most parasites crawling over it.

"Well whatta you know, a naked reploid rolling around like a pup."

Omega froze, his parasites forgotten. His legs were splayed in the air and his back was flat against the ground.

"Beats me why you'd wanna do it in a desert, though."

Flipping onto his stomach, he slowly got up, looking for the source of the voice. It was a man, on top of the dune where Omega had begun his "temper tantrum". He wore a purple long-sleeved jacket, with matching pants and boots. There was a white bandanna tied around his forehead, with a dark purple gem emblem in the center. He also wore visor-like goggles.

"I am _not_ naked, and I am _not_ rolling around like a pup," growled Omega.

The man chuckled, "It sure looks like it to me."

Omega's face reddened. His temper began rising, as did an itch. The parasites were back. Involuntarily, he began digging at his scalp with his fingers.

"You got a problem there, buddy?"

"No. Buzz off." He began scratching himself harder. After a couple of seconds, the agonizing irritation caused by the parasites forced him to drop to the sands again, flailing madly. The man watched, then began to laugh.

"If that's not a problem, I don't know _what_ is! What's buggin' you, anyways?"

Omega gave him a venomous look, but decided to play along. For all he knew, it may be better to keep his identity a secret.

"Exactly that. Bugs." The man raised an eyebrow questioningly, then snapped his fingers in understanding.

"Oh! I get ya! Those insectoid robots that travel around here. But why would you go around, uh, _half_naked, when that security company warned everyone? When an experiment goes awry, people usually don't stick around to feel the effects."

Omega gave him a genuinely confused look, which he noticed.

"Didn't you get the message?" Omega responded by shaking his head.

"I thought it had been sent to everyone... The message was about how a security company's attempt at parasitic burglar deterrents failed. All the parasites got out, and me and some friends got the job to exterminate the ones in this area. But... The message should have gotten to every single person out here, even the raiders. Not only that, the company even got the news people to write a story on it..."

He took a few steps backwards, staring suspiciously at Omega. "You aren't some sort of dangerous hermit or sand spirit, right?" The man reached into a pocket, bringing out a communicator.

Omega realized that his cover was almost blown. Should he tell the truth, or lie through his teeth? He went with the latter.

"Yes, I'm a hermit, but I'm not dangerous." _Or so you think..._thought Omega.

The man relaxed. "That's okay, then. Sorry if I'm being a bit suspicious, but there's been some weird stuff goin' on lately. My name's Amethyst, by the way."

"You can say that again, Amethyst... But I'm curious. Isn't Amethyst the name of a jewel? It seems strange to be called that"

Amethyst chuckled. "No stranger than any other. I'll elaborate more on it later, if you'd like. Anyways, what's your name?"

Uh oh. What should he say? Two centuries ago, his real name had struck fear into the hearts of even the bravest warriors. Telling his name now could prove disastrous. But what should his false name be? Struggling for an answer, his search was cut off before he could say anything.

"Don't you have a name?"

Omega looked at Amethyst. His answer was found for him!

"...No..." he faked. Amethyst looked at him with pity, and Omega was hard put not to strangle him for it.

"Poor guy, no wonder you're a hermit. Tell you what, you come with me and my friends and I'll help with those parasites. Not only that, we'll get you a good and proper name, too!" he grinned. Reaching into his pocket, he brought out a squirt bottle.

"Now hold still. It won't hurt, but it'll get those bugs off." Omega complied as Amethyst sprayed his shoulders. The liquid was greasy and smelly, but the insectoids (who Omega had forgotten about during his conversation) instantly scattered off their host and into the sands. The sheer bliss of their departure caused the "unnamed hermit" to let out a moan of relief.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahh... You don't know how _good_ that feels..." For once, the crimson terror wasn't lying.

"It's only temporary, mind you. Sorry about the smell, but that's one of the reasons it works so well. Now come on, we're going to be late."

Omega was perplexed, "Late for what?"

"For breakfast, silly! I was just finishing my rounds when I stumbled onto you!" Amethyst beckoned with his hand, then began to run off into the distance. Omega followed, beginning to wonder just _what_ he had gotten himself into. The impassive sun burned the horizon as two figures ran across the endless sands, heading towards a settlement on the horizon.

The God of Destruction had returned!

* * *

Next chapter: The gem gang appears!


	4. The Gem Gang!

Disclaimer: All characters, except those in the "Gem Gang", belong to Capcom. The Gang is mine.

* * *

It was noon. The sun shone brilliantly over the city, causing it to glow. Decorating the gray and white buildings were plants, billboards, signs, and other urban delights. Below a large skyscraper in the city's center, various citizens went about their daily lives without a care in the world. Inside the skyscraper was a different story.

Aile stared out through a large window, tapping her foot impatiently. Grey stood a few feet behind her, trying to soothe her foul mood. His attempts at consoling her were, however, futile.

"Look, I know you wanna see the biometals, but Legion has to see that they're okay first!"

"I've spent more time with those biometals than anyone else has. I should be the one to judge their state!"

"Aile, please-!"

"Grey, I'm older than you, and I know better than you, so just shut up!"

Grey retracted from her, hurt by her words. He was on the verge of tears. Aile turned around, noticing the look on his face.

"Oh, Grey..."

Unable to hold them back any longer, tears ran freely down the young reploid's face.

"You're not nice! I was just trying to _help_!!"

"Grey, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have shouted-"

She put her hand on his shoulder, only to have it pushed off.

"Go away! Just go away!"

He turned his back to her. Aile's anger faded as Grey sobbed. She mentally berated herself for being so cruel to him. He'd only been "born" a few days ago, and still had a lot to learn. Aile grabbed his arm gently, turning him around to face her.

"I'm sorry, Grey... Come here..." Her voice was noticeably lower and calmer. Holding him around his waist and shoulders, she gave him a motherly hug, which seemed to calm him down. Grey's sobs ceased, although his body still trembled occasionally.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. Please believe me. I'm just so worried about the biometals... When I heard that the other mega men showed up, along with Model Z, I was so happy. But then I heard how terrified they were. Even Model Z was trembling, and he usually isn't afraid of anything... I got so upset, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry Grey, I shouldn't have done that... Will you forgive me?"

Grey looked up at her. He had a smile on his face, although his eyes were still watery. "Okay, I'll forgive you... I didn't realize that you were so worried. I'm sorry if I was mean to you because of that."

It was Aile's turn to smile, "Thank you, Grey..."

They stayed in their embrace for a while, both of them tired and worn out from their recent ordeals. Grey slumped a little, then began asking a question. "Aile, will you be my mom?"

Aile looked at him, startled, "Your mom? Why would you want me to be your mom?"

"Because I just killed Albert, and he was technically my dad, so... I need a foster parent. And you're nice, so I was hoping that you'd take care of me, and teach me stuff, and... Well, the usual parent things. But if you don't want to, then that's okay too..."

Aile thought about it. Ever since she'd become a mega man, her life's goal had been to eliminate all Model Ws. But with Ouroboros destroyed, it was unlikely that there were any Model Ws left anywhere. Which meant that she had nothing left to do. On the other note, while Grey had the body of a 14 year old, he still had the mind of a 12 (or younger) year old. _Someone_ had to take care of him... She smirked.

"Sure, Grey, I'll be your mom..."

"YAY! Thanks mom!" His hug tightened, and he beamed at her. Aile blushed a bit, slightly embarrassed. But, she reasoned, the look on his face was worth it. And it certainly gave her something to pass the time...

Suddenly, Grey's smile faded, the sparkle in his eyes left. Aile was quickly concerned.

"Grey, what's wrong?"

"... I'm tired..." Grey yawned out. In less than a second he fell asleep in her arms.

Aile sweatdropped. Apparently, Grey hadn't gone to sleep since he woke up. She looked around for a chair, a bench, anything to lie the boy down on.

No such luck would befall her. And so, Aile was left to stand and hold him, desperately looking for something or someone to help her with her 150-pound problem.

Omega walked behind Amethyst as they entered a large camp. It was a permanent affair, with many storied-buildings and hangers. As they walked, he received several strange looks, along with some pointing and giggling (courtesy of a group of women). For the first time in his life, Omega was blushing profusely, staring hard at the ground for something to take his mind off of the onlookers. Thankfully, his humiliation was short-lived as they arrived at an apartment complex.

"Here we are, home sweet home." Omega looked up as Amethyst put a card key into the front door and stepped inside. They stepped into the lobby and the door closed behind him. While they headed towards the elevators, the receptionist gave them both a suspicious look, but said nothing.

On the third floor, they headed towards room 311. Right before they entered the apartment, the door swung open.

"Amethyst! There you are! C'mon in already, the food's getting' cold!" A man with white hair and a white outfit leaned out from inside the door. He wore a white headband with the same gem symbol as Amethyst's, only it was silver. He grabbed Amethyst by his arm, pulling him inside the room. The door slammed shut.

Omega stood staring dumbly at the door.

It was another minute before the door reopened. The same man in white leaned out again, looking Omega up and down.

"Who the heck're you? Do you know the password? Speak up!"

Omega was unsure how to answer. "Uh..."

Amethyst's voice rang out from inside the apartment. "Diamond, let him in already. He's a friend!"

Diamond's expression changed from a scowl to an idiotic grin, "A friend, eh? Well what are you waiting for, come on in!" He snatched Omega into the home, not giving him any say in the matter. Inside the apartment there was a large living room, with a hallway attached. A large table was in the center of the room. It was set and had eight chairs. Four of the chairs were occupied, one with Amethyst, another with an intensely muscular, green haired, dark skinned male. His eyes looked like he was constantly squinting. He wore green clothes and another white headband, with a green emblem. The other two chairs were filled with a pair of six year olds (in appearance, anyways), who seemed to be twins. One of them was a girl with pink hair; the other was a boy with light-blue hair. Their clothes matched their hair. But instead of headbands or bandannas, they each wore white-goggled flight helmets. The gem emblems on their helmets were yellow.

Diamond slid out a chair and sat down. Amethyst seemed confused for some reason. "Where are the others? They're usually here by now..."

Diamond responded casually, "No idea, I think Ruby's forcing them all on a diet again. Oh well, more for us!" He began taking some food from a platter in the middle of the table, heaping it onto a plate in front of him. The others followed suit, grabbing breakfast foods ranging from eggs to bacon and hashbrowns to toast. The two kids began muttering in unison.

"I dunno why they go-"

"On those stupid diets-"

"It's not like they need 'em-"

"Well, maybe Ruby does-"

"But that's no reason-"

"To starve yourself!"

Amethyst looked at Omega. "You can come and sit down, you know. It's not like we're going to bite you or anything." He patted the seat beside him.

One of the twins piped up, "At least, _we_ aren't. I don't know-

"-Anything about Emerald, though..."

The green man looked up from his meal, grunted disapprovingly at the twins, then went back to eating.

"He doesn't talk much," Amethyst whispered as Omega sat down.

Silence reigned around the table as they ate, excluding Omega. Coughing nervously, he addressed the twins.

"So, what are your names...?"

They looked at him. "Well, we're both called Pearl. But everyone else just calls us Pink and Blue."

"I see..."

The quiet continued for a few more minutes, until Diamond spoke to Omega.

"You can have some, if you'd like." He motioned at the food on the table.

"No thanks. I'm not hungry..."

"Meh, your loss." He went back to eating.

Omega looked at the plate in front of him. What Omega hadn't said is that he _couldn't_ eat. He had been able to, once, but that was before Weil had gotten his hands on him and improved him. Sure, he had been made into the strongest being to ever exist, but... it riled Omega to know that something about him was imperfect.

The door to the apartment opened. As all in attendance looked, a black blur ran into the room. Before any of them could react, the person had grabbed a piece of toast and was putting as much food on it that would fit.

"Opal? What's going on?"

Opal, who by now was stuffing her face with the goods, swallowed. She turned to Diamond.

"Ruby is what. I swear, if she tries forcing me into another one of her crazy diets..." She let the sentence unfinished. Opal had long, jet-black hair, which was tied into a ponytail. The rest of her outfit matched her hair, as did her headband's emblem.

She finished her toast, hastily turning to leave. But at the door she stopped. Turning around, she looked at Omega, "Hey, who's the new guy?"

Amethyst answered her, "Just a friend. He doesn't have a name, actually."

Opal smirked, "Then we'll just have to fix that later. Heh, Ruby is gonna be _so_ jealous when I tell her about him."

"Why is that?" asked Amethyst.

"Because he's cuter than she is!" Opal turned back around and left the apartment.

Omega stared down at the table, his face beet red.

As the day progressed, the gang (which called themselves the Gem Gang, unsurprisingly) showed Omega around the camp, which he learned was called the Hunter's camp (again, fairly unsurprising considering their occupations). Before they left, they lent Omega some tan khaki pants and an old shirt. They also met up with Ruby and another girl called Sapphire. Ruby, as her name implied, was wearing red. Her emblem was red, her hair was red, and she wore a short red dress. Sapphire was the opposite, as she was blue where Ruby was red. She also wore slightly-baggy pants under her dress and had a white jacket. While Ruby was loud and proud, she was quiet and subdued, although no less friendly. The rest of the day passed uneventfully, until at last, the sun set and they all went back to the apartment. Well, the men did, anyways. The girls took the room across the hall. The guys even offered to let Omega sleep on the couch, apologetic that they couldn't offer him anything more. He accepted anyways, seeing as he had nowhere else to sleep.

And so, the night passed. Gentle snores came from Emerald's room, and a breeze went past a window. Omega was quite pleased with the couch. After sleeping on a hard floor for the past two centuries, cushions of any sort were a luxury.

Then morning came. As soon as dawn broke, Omega's instinct woke him. Nary a sound came from the other rooms as he got up, yawning and stretching. From outside the door, a gentle thud sounded.

Curious, Omega went over and investigated. Opening the door, he looked around. He couldn't see anyone, so instead decided to look at the floor, where the sound had come from. A small, white letter lay innocently on the ground. He picked it up and went inside.

Looking at the letter's envelope, he could see that it was from the apartment complex's management. He walked over and sat back down on the couch.

Omega was curious. What was the letter about? Would it hurt to check? He thought of the gem gang. All of them had been friendly and hospitable, never pushing for answers, never asking for something in return. Omega wanted to repay them, not because they were so cheery and helpful (although he did find that nice), but because he felt he owed them a favour. Omega had never liked being indebted to people, and wanted to repay the gang as soon as possible. Reading the letter without their permission wouldn't be great, but if they never found out...

Omega glanced around the apartment. No one was up. He opened the letter, reading its contents. When he was done, he wordlessly put it back into its envelope, then into his pocket. His face was sombre.

The letter was an eviction notice.


	5. A new adventure

SubZeroChimera reporting!

Hey guys, sorry if last chapter got a bit weird. I assure you, I didn't mean for it to go that way, but it did. Mostly, I was just looking for a way to open up possibilities. Anyways, please enjoy the next installment of Happy Anniversary!

* * *

"You can come in, now."

Aile looked over at Mikhail, who was standing just inside a door. About an hour had passed since her and Grey's conversation. She was still holding him, although her arms were sore. Mikhail noticed this.

"It seems that one of you is a little tired, no?"

Aile gave him a small smile, "Two of us, actually."

Mikhail smiled back, "Bring him in here, we have some spare chairs. By the way, I was wondering..."

"Yes?" Aile asked as she followed him into the room.

"I was hoping that you could ask Model Z some questions. We've, for the most part, succeeded in calming the mega men and him down, but they refuse to talk to us about what happened. Would you be alright with that?"

She nodded, "That's fine with me. I've been looking forward to talking with Model Z anyways."

They stopped at a table. The room was like an interrogation room, bland. The chairs around the table, however, were cushioned. Aile placed Grey in one of the chairs, and looked around the room. She turned to look at Mikhail.

"Where is everyone?"

Mikhail responded, "Well, since we couldn't calm them down completely, we decided to give them rooms for the night. I just sent off for Model Z, so he should be here any-"

"Aile!" a small red zephyr raced into the room, stopping to float in front of Aile. "I'm so glad you're okay! Grey is okay too, it seems!"

"Model Z! Me, okay? I was worried about _you_!" Aile held out her arms, letting the biometal float just above her palms.

"Worried about _me_? Aile, you know me better than that. Would I _really_ get myself into a situation that I couldn't get out of?"

"..." she frowned at him, an unimpressed look on her face.

"Come on, you can't _still_ be mad about that, can you? It was only once, and it wasn't my fault!"

Her stare continued.

"Alright, alright, I _sometimes_ get into trouble that I can't get out of. Happy?"

"I don't know... I say we ask Model X." She reached into her jacket's pocket, bringing out a blue, box-like object. "So, what do you think?"

The object began floating, then turned to face Model Z, "I may not have my memories, but my systems seem to think that you _always_ get into suicidal dilemmas."

"Oh sure, side with her."

"Only because it's true."

"Shut up already, you annoying blue midget."

"You're not much taller than I am, you know."

"I said _shut up_!"

Aile smiled as the two had their usual argument. Mikhail also smiled.

"It seems that this is quite a happy reunion! I feel like I'm intruding! Perhaps I should leave?"

Aile turned to him, still smiling. "No, you aren't intruding. Please don't feel that you have to leave."

"No, no, that's quite alright. I have some other business that I need to attend to anyways. Just brief me later on Model Z's response, alright? I'll be seeing you, then," Mikhail left the room, heading down a hallway.

Model Z looked at Aile, "My response? What does he mean by that?"

She looked back at him. "What Mikhail meant is that he wants me to ask you about what happened."

The biometal stayed silent for a moment, "You mean, what happened between the time I left you, and the time I got here?"

She nodded. Model Z was quiet for a while, not responding. Then he spoke up again, "I'd rather you not tell him everything that I'm about to say."

She nodded again. "I'll tell him what he needs to know, and no more. Are you okay with that?

"Yes. Thank you."

Model Z began explaining about what happened, from when he "froze" the mega men, to when he arrived at the legion. After he was finished, Aile let him rest in her hand.

"So, when you felt that aura, you came here as soon as possible?"

"Yes."

"Do you think that the aura could be a surviving Model W?"

He paused, "No. I did not feel the aura of a single Model W. They were all destroyed during the crash. That aura... It was something else, something far worse."

Aile's eyes opened wider, "Something worse? What could be worse?"

"I don't know. My body, if you can call it that, recognized the presence. It was my body that told me that the thing, whatever it was, is far more powerful than Model W. Although, I doubt it could be more powerful than Ouroboros had been before the crash."

She scratched her chin, "That your body remembered something you couldn't... This is troubling news."

"I agree," blinked Model X, who was floating by Aile's shoulder. "Hey Z, if we ran across whatever it was, do you think you'd recognize it again?"

"If it was using a large enough amount of energy, then yes."

"Good. When we have time, we should focus on finding it."

"Agreed!" they exclaimed together. Just then, Grey began to stir.

"Hey, Grey. Up so soon?" Aile asked. Grey glanced over her way, rubbing his hair.

"Well, it wasn't very comfortable. It felt like I was sitting on a rock."

"Mmf!"

"Huh?" He looked down at the seat of his pants.

Aile peered at him, somewhat quizzically, "Excuse you?"

Grey kept looking at his pants. His eyes shot open. "Model A!!" His hand shot into a pocket on the back of his shorts. When he brought it out, a quivering biometal was in it.

"About bloody time!! What the heck was that for?! I was taking a nice little nap after our battle, and I suddenly end up squished!! What did you do, anyways?"

Grey looked sheepish. "I think I sat on you-"

"Sat on me? SAT ON ME!? You jerk, that's no way to treat a powerful biometal like me! That's it, I'm out of here, you ungrateful mega man!" With that, he began gliding swiftly towards the door.

"Model A-!"

_BANG!_

Everyone in the room was silent.

"...Uh, Model A? I think you're supposed to _open_ the door before you use it..."

The multi-coloured biometal laid face-first against the floor, "I'm not talking to you."

"You just did."

"Shut up."

Aile shook her head as she placed one of her hands on it.

After they were finished their conversations, Aile went to Mikhail and reported what Model Z had told her, excluding some things. The Legionnaire thanked her, and offered her a place to stay for the night. She accepted since the Guardian Base was docked for repairs. The day passed quietly, and she soon retired to her quarters. Grey came in with her and slept in a bed beside hers.

In the morning, she woke up. Fully refreshed, she stretched her arms before looking over at Grey. He was shivering because his bed's covers had fallen to the floor. She got up and grabbed the covers, placing them over him. He smiled, snuggling under their warmth. Aile gently ruffled his hair, then went over to a window. The city looked like it always did, bright, white, and shining.

And deep inside, she felt that today was a new beginning.

x x x x x

"Morning. Up already?" Diamond sauntered lazily into the living area. Omega turned to face him.

"Hey, Diamond, can I ask you something?"

Diamond glanced over at Omega. "Sure, anything." He walked into the kitchen area, rooting around in the fridge.

"Is there somewhere around here where I can make some money?"

The chinking of glass objects was heard, "Money? If you want to make money, just ask around. There's lots of people in the camp that'll pay you to do an odd job. Another place to look is Legion. They have a big job board, although those jobs tend to be a bit tougher."

"Thanks." He got up off the couch, heading towards the door.

"Whoa, where're you going? You're gonna miss breakfast!"

Omega didn't even turn around. "Out." With that, he exited the apartment, heading to the elevators.

"Weird guy. Ah well, like I said yesterday. More for me!" He began cooking breakfast.

A trio of birds chirped as they flew upwards towards the sky. The rag-tag hunter's camp buzzed with activity despite the early time. As Omega looked around, people bartered, laughed, and told stories to each other. The jovial atmosphere was infectious to most of the residents. But Omega, surly as ever, was unimpressed. Looking for a job here would be a mission in itself. He stopped in the middle of the road, hoping to get a better view of potential employers.

Within a minute, his keen senses had alerted him to an elderly man, a scientist of some type, asking questions to various passer-bys. Most of those he asked shook their heads and walked off, the rest laughed. Omega went over to investigate.

When he was within hailing range, he called out to the scientist, "Hey, you! Old man!"

The man looked around, alarmed.

"Over here! I want to ask you something." The man spotted Omega, retreating somewhat at his intimidating figure.

"Y-Yes? What w-would you like...?"

Omega stopped in front of him, having to look down because of the man's short stature. "You seem to be asking a lot of people questions. I would like to know what those questions are."

The scientist seemed surprised, but quickly gathered his composure. "I was just asking them for some help. I've discovered some old ruins, and I want to excavate them, but me and my archaeological team are worried about raiders attacking."

Omega raised his eyebrow. "Raiders? What do you mean?"

"You, know, those low-life scum who keep attacking others and stealing things to sell on the black market. One particular band, the Corpse Sparrows, keeps hounding my group. They know that we've uncovered a potential treasure-trove of goods, but they're waiting for us to excavate it before they move in and steal it all. No good parasitic..." He mumbled on, oblivious of his audience member.

"If someone were to take the job, how much would they be paid?" interrupted Omega.

"Well, good help is hard to find, so if someone _were_ to take the job, then... They would be paid well. So long as they _did_ well," he answered. Omega scratched his chin for a moment. The eviction notice had said that the tenants of room 311 and 312 had one week to pay a sum of $3000. A lot of money, but...

"How about $3000?"

The man looked at him, eyes open wider than usual, "$3000? Well, sure, but there'd have to be some conditions attached."

Omega eyed him. "What kind of conditions?"

"It would have to be paid in cash, the recipient would have to be an exceptional worker, and keep things hush-hush, if you know what I mean..."

The white-haired reploid raised his brow again. "And why would things have to be kept quiet?"

"Well, uh, you see..." his voice trailed off.

"You wouldn't happen to be a raider too, would you?"

"..."

"I knew it. No wonder why no one else has taken the job yet!"

"You're right. No one has taken the job because no-one wants to work with a raider. I guess we'll have to risk being attacked..." the man began to walk off dejectedly.

"Hold on. I commented on why no one _else_ has taken the job. I didn't say that it bothered _me_."

Stopping abruptly, the raider turned around. "Are you saying... that you'll accept the mission?"

Omega gave him a menacing smirk, sending chills down his spine. "If you'll pay me what I've asked, then sure. I'll do whatever you need me to."

"Your price is high, but if you can guarantee quality work, then it's a deal."

"Fair enough. When do I start?"

"How about right now?"

"Fine with me!" Omega cracked his knuckles, his blood coloured eyes gleaming demonically... _And with any luck_, he thought, _I might get to kill again_! He smiled, canines glinting.

"Well then, we'd better get going. Follow me." The man walked off, leaving Omega to follow. The crowd around them ignored the two business partners, more intent on their own affairs.


	6. Attack of the Raiders!

Sorry if it took longer than usual to update. I have several large projects going, Namely my Halloween costume and MY FIRST FREAKIN' ART COMMISSION!! YAYS!! The two raider gangs (and their members) are mine, the rest are already explained.

A big, heartfelt thank you to all who have reviewed this story. It makes me feel appreciated when you post your comments, and I want you to know that you are appreciated too.

Omega-"In other words, she wants to glomp you all."

SubZeroChimera-"I do not! I'm appreciative, but not _that_ appreciative!"

Omega-"Come on, admit it, it's healthier for you."

SubZeroChimera-"I don't glomp strangers, and that is that!"

Omega-"But I'm a stranger and you glomped _me_."

SubZeroChimera-"Who wouldn't?"

Omega-" ..."

SubZeroChimera-"...I shouldn't have said that..."

Omega-"No, you shouldn't have."

SubZeroChimera-_Whine_

Omega-"Folks, you may want to divert your attention now." _Hand shifts to sword hilt_

SubZeroChimera-"...Help..."

* * *

Two hours later, Omega was on a ship.

The ship belonged to the Raiders and was around average size. On board, about 50 raiders were preparing to land, grabbing tools, armour, weapons, or anything else they needed. They had supplied Omega with armour too, since his was currently "unavailable". If he had enough spare energy in his systems, Omega would've gotten his regeneration systems to make some (another perk of being a reploid; your armour sometimes counted as part of your body), but he wasn't sure how much energy he'd need in the time to come.

A warning alarm screamed out. The ship was about to land.

He braced for the landing, grabbing a rail. The ship rumbled and shook, and with a gentle thud, stopped moving. The PA system blurted out commands to various squads.

"Would all personnels charged with defence please report to the bridge."

The order took Omega slightly off-guard, but he didn't show it. Instead, he followed a large group of heavily armed raiders, ending up where he needed to be. The bridge was a two tiered room, with a half-circle of control panels and operators on the bottom. Two stairways led down to the area from around the main console, which was on the top level. A suspended hallway ran from it to the rest of the ship. Omega, along with several others, stood on the path, looking at the console. Beside it was the old man who had hired him, and behind it, peering down at the group, was the ship's commander.

"I trust you all know why you're here."

He wore a green suit with black hems, his pants long and loose. On the front of his shirt was a tattoo-like symbol of a vicious black parrot. Around his shoulders and back, a luxurious onyx scarf hung, slightly ragged at the ends. Two black, wing shaped projections decorated the sides of his forest-coloured helmet, right above his ears. His face looked serious as he gestured dramatically at his troops.

"The Corpse Sparrows, our arch-nemesis, have found out about this dig. We know that they will attempt to steal all of the artifacts as soon as we uncover them. We have no knowledge of their numbers, or if they intend to simply exterminate our band once and for all. They have been a thorn in our sides for years now, and we have been a thorn in theirs. Unfortunately, as our numbers are down, so we have enlisted aide." He nodded towards Omega, "This is our last stand. It has been a pleasure working with every one of you. May the gods shine on us, and may the Twilight Pirates live on! Every one of you! Fight!"

"Fight!" They all shouted back. They left to their own stations, leaving Omega standing and looking at the two still at the main controls.

"As for you, mercenary, I would like to have a brief chat with you." He stepped down from the console, walking towards the red demon, "Your price is high, from what Alfredo told me. I expect from that price that you have an elite squad at your disposal. As such, I will be placing you at the first line of defence. You have about 15 minutes to call up your squad, and you will receive your payment once the work is done. Are you fine with this?"

Omega's crimson eyes bore holes into the commander, "On one condition."

Slightly nervous, he replied, "What is that?"

"That no one is to see us. If anyone wishes to come within view of the first line, I would like them to give me ample warning, ten minutes preferably. My, uh, squad, does not like being watched."

The commander nodded, "Fair enough. I trust that you have your motives." Walking back to the console, he reached into a drawer. Taking out a small communicator, he threw it to Omega.

"Now, you will follow Alfredo to the dig site. Best of luck." He returned to typing on the controls. The old man began heading towards the door. Omega followed.

After a minute of navigation through the ship, they left it. It had the same colour scheme and symbol as its commander. Alfredo began trotting towards a large mound of soil about 50 feet away from the ship. Once there, he turned to Omega.

"This is it. You'll be defending our position from here. The rest of us will be inside digging, so don't worry if you hear anything from within. This is the only entrance, so it's vital that no one gets in. See you later, if we're lucky..." He went inside.

Omega jumped on top of the four meter mound. As he watched for trouble, he noticed more of the landscape. They were in a large, wide clearing. The raider ship was off to the side, while the rest of the clearing was surrounded by forest, slightly camouflaging the ship. The dirt in the clearing was stomped into a dusty wasteland from the activities of the raiders.

Hours passed. The raiders who had remained on the ship ventured into the mound, which Omega guessed was really a tunnel. No animals sang, the sky was cloudy. The crimson terror was beginning to wonder if anything would actually happen. Boredom gnawed at his mind as he clawed the ground in frustration.

A large thrumming sound came from above. Omega looked up as a red ship zoomed into view. It drifted, overlooking the clearing. Soon, it lighted down on the opposite side of the Twilight Pirates' ship, dwarfing it in size. Its hatch opened and numerous raiders marched out, each wearing environmental masks, spiked helmets, and red and navy uniforms. Some of the raiders went and investigated the other ship, but most fanned out and pointed their guns at Omega. Omega simply returned their gesture by watching their affairs, disdainfully and cat-like. Feigning disinterest, he leaned back, closed his eyes, and began sunbathing (Even though the sun was nowhere to be seen).

Another raider, far more decorated than the rest, detached himself from the main gathering. His helmet had spikes in the same place as the rest of the raiders, but they were longer and curved. He didn't wear an environmental mask, either. Sneering, he addressed the mound's sentinel. "You're a cocky one, it seems. May I ask what you are doing on top of that mound?"

Omega opened one eye, staring down at the raider, "No, you may not. My business is my own." He closed his eye again, relaxing. He noted, with a faint smile, the sound of a boot stomping to the ground in frustration.

"I asked you a question, and I expect an answer! So answer my question!" His sneer turned into an unfriendly growl.

"Nah, I don't feel like it." Omega waved him off, not even bothering to look up.

"Why you! If you think you're so much better than me, then prove it! Fire away, boys!" He snarled. Omega jerked up, but was too late to dodge the multitude of energy bullets headed his way. Instead, he was forced to brace himself as they hit.

"Yarharharhar! How do ya like _that_, mister arrogant?!" He laughed as Omega took the shots, dust rising from stray attacks. The shots soon stopped because the clouds of silt and debris made it impossible to aim. The leader put his hands on his hips, laughing uproariously.

"I'd imagine that you didn't like that one bit! Doesn't matter though, since no one survives when they poke fun at me! The leader of the Corpse Sparrows!! Wuahahahahaha!"

Several of the surrounding raiders joined in, guffawing loudly. They abruptly stopped laughing, staring in horror, as Omega's still-standing silhouette appeared in the dust.

"You're right. I didn't like it." The clouds began to settle, revealing that Omega's armour was broken in many places. He grabbed it, ripping off the useless garment. His shirt had a few holes burnt into it, and some scorch marks had gotten onto his skin. He, however, appeared totally unaware of the fact that he was supposed to be injured.

"That was quite rude, you know. This may be surprising to you, but I _really_ don't like being shot at." Omega jumped forward, landing in front of the mound's entrance. "And if I don't like something, it almost always ends up _dead_," he walked forward, his eyes gleaming dangerously, "But I feel like being nice today, so if you surrender now, I _may_ just spare you..."

The raider leader grimaced, "I don't know who, or _what_, you are..." he leaped aside, revealing a raider holding a grenade, "but I never surrender!" The raider threw the bomb. It hit Omega in the dead center of his chest, causing another cloud of dust to rise as it exploded.

"That will teach you not to take us on!" he finished. The cloud remained suspended in the air, hiding the effects of the blast. The raiders sneered, cheered, and applauded their leader. He turned around, bowing to his audience, "Thank you, thank you, you're all too kind!" He continued bowing until a gasp from one of the raiders stopped him.

"What's wrong, Jared?" asked the frightened raider's neighbour. Shaking, his actions watched by all of his comrades, he pointed at the cloud of dust. Within it, Omega's blood-red eyes glowed, as did a small blue triangle mark on his head (the mark was previously hidden by his bangs). The glow was amplified by the dust, which reflected some of the light.

"You have not surrendered." His voice was deep, calm, and petrified everyone who heard it. It was the voice of an ancient demon. "So you will die."

The raiders did not even have time to scream as Omega hit them like a tonne of bricks.

x x x x x

Inside the tunnel, a pair of the Twilight Pirates walked towards the entrance, each carrying a small box of cargo. One was complaining to his friend.

"But the boss said we had to give him ten minutes first!"

The other one just gave a daredevil smirk, "Oh come on, you know you want to know what that guy's "pals" look like!"

The first peered around the tunnel, looking for any eavesdroppers, "But you saw what _he_ looks like. I don't want them to know that we were gonna spy on them. They might kill us!"

"Quit being such a baby. What they don't know won't hurt 'em!"

The pair was approaching the corner of the hall and the stairs leading to surface. Just as they were about to head up the stairs, agonized screams and wails ripped through the air. The two ducked back behind the corner, listening as many terrorized yells were cut short. Cries for mercy were soon followed by gut wrenching sounds of crushed bones and rent flesh. They looked at each other, paralyzed with fear, hoping that whatever was happening out there wouldn't happen to them. Without warning, a body sailed through the air, splattering blood everywhere, then crunching sickeningly as it hit the wall opposite the stairs.

They looked at it. Its eyes were wide open, and despite the lack of life, were full of fear. It was slumped, its backbone having broken from the impact against the wall. The neck was also broken, the wound oozing red fluids. When it had been thrown, its throat had been torn out, causing even more blood to spill. Some of that blood had landed on the pair of raiders.

Terror ate at their hearts as they fled wordlessly back to where they'd come from. Passer-bys noticed them as they ran, deciding that whatever had caused them to act like that was not something they wanted to see either.

When Alfredo saw them, he ordered that no one was to go back to the surface until he or the commander said so. An order that was whole-heartedly agreed with.

Within thirty minutes, Omega had finished. He let out a content sigh, looking at the carnage he'd caused. Blood dripped from his arms, landing in red pools on the ground. His hand went to his hip, where his sword was. Throughout the battle, he'd forgotten it in his elation caused by the fray. Two centuries, and his thirst for blood had finally been sated.

The communicator rang. He picked out of his other pocket, turning it on. "Yes?" he asked.

It was the commander. "Hey. Some of my men said that there was some sort of a ruckus going on up there. They also said that it sounded like a slaughter. What the heck happened?"

Omega responded, "Well, there _was_ a bit of a fight, but nothing that couldn't be handled."

"A fight? Who was it? It wasn't the Corpse Sparrows, was it?"

"It was."

"Then what happened to them?!"

Omega paused, choosing the best answer. "They were... eliminated..."

The commander was silent. He seemed to be shocked. "...e...eliminated...?"

Omega smiled darkly, "You heard what I said. Eliminated. Dead. Kaput. Thanks to me, you no longer have a thorn in your side."

The commander was silent again, "You can tell your squad... that they did a good job..."

Omega's grin widened, "Thank you. Oh, and if you want to come up..." he gave the clearing a quick glance, "you may want to give me an hour to... clean up."

"Yeah... I think... I'll let you do that..." The line was cut. Omega looked around at all of the bodies littering the red, muddy ground.

"Oh well, better get to it." He began grabbing the bodies, dragging them into the forest. Sometimes, all that was left of a victim were parts, so he chucked those into the foliage too. A few of the raiders had pockets bulging with money, keys, wallets, or other personal items. If he thought they were worth anything, Omega took the liberty of relieving them from their owners. He even found pictures on a couple of them, which he simply crushed and/or threw into the bushes. When he was finished, he wiped his hands on his shirt (or rather, tattered rag resembling a shirt).

"How appropriate that all that's left of those Corpse Sparrows are corpses!" he laughed to himself. The last body he picked up was that of the leader's, the first one to have befallen an early grave. As Omega dragged the limp form to the forest, he searched for any money. He found plenty, about $2000, along with a small key chain. On it was a flat, silver carving of a dragon, a slightly ornate key, and a tag that read "Betsy". Looking at the keys, he surmised that they were for a small ship. He ripped off the tag, pocketed the keys, and threw the body into the bushes.

When he was done, he checked his internal clock. Only fifteen minutes had passed, leaving him time to do whatever he wanted. Omega decided to explore the red ship in case of survivors, or more loot.

He walked over to the ship, then began exploring it. No one was on it, and neither were any sort of goods. Apparently, the raiders kept their possessions with them at all times. _Probably to discourage others from stealing their stuff_ thought Omega. Eventually, he returned back to the hall where he'd entered. He patted the pocket that the keys were in.

"There's gotta be a small aircraft for these somewhere... He paused, looking around. There was a door he hadn't noticed before. Opening it, Omega saw that the door led to a large hold, filled with fighter jets.

Wandering into the room, the blood-soaked warrior noticed that each of the jets looked the same. They were in the image of birds, swallows, and were coloured navy and red, just like the raiders' uniforms. As he walked down the aisles, Omega wondered if one of the ships was the match for his new keys. Their wings were folded at their sides, allowing more of them to be kept in a smaller space. It wasn't until he saw the last ship, separated from the rest, that he figured out which one had been the leader's.

Omega gaped as he beheld the jet. It was slightly larger, and differently shaped. Instead of being based on a swallow, it was based on a dragon, like the one on the key chain. Its wings had sharp, grooved edges, as did the tail, while the cockpit had two ornamental, curving horns coming off of it. Instead of plain red and navy, it was a regal crimson, black and gold. Strangely (or perhaps not), it had four landing wheels, not three (which the other jets had). Small guns were mounted below the cockpit, larger ones under the middle of the wings.

Omega brought out the keys, looking between them and the craft.

"Hell... freakin'...YEAH!!"

He rushed over to it, grinning like an idiot. Caressing its side with one hand, he ran the fingers of his other hand along its magnificent frame. By the smell of it, it had been freshly painted.

"I just hit the jackpot, baby! WHOOHOO!!" he took the keys, pressing a button on the carved dragon. The cockpit opened, letting Omega inside. The seats and control panel were black. The panel began glowing, and letters dashed along the surface of a large touch-screen.

"PLEASE INPUT PASSWORD" it said. Omega looked at the screen. Password? What could the password be? He tried several combinations, like CORPSE SPARROWS and RAIDERS FOREVER. Unfortunately, none of them worked. Annoyed, he looked around, hoping for some clue. His eyes stopped when he looked at his keys again. Then he smacked his forehead.

BETSY. He awaited the machine's response.

PASSWORD ACCEPTED. ACTIVATING. The jet hummed to life, and many of the buttons and gauges on the panel began to shine. A user's option menu opened up on the touch-screen.

_The first thing I'm doing is changing the stupid password_. Omega navigated his way through the menu until he was where he wanted to be. But when he was in the process of typing a password, he stopped. Whatever he wrote as the password would likely end up being the ship's name, and he wanted only the best for his new craft. Alas, he couldn't think of a name.

"Bloodbath? Nah, too corny. Wyvern? No... Armageddon? Overused!" He mused, thinking of many different names. The trial went on for a few minutes, before Omega suddenly smiled. He began typing in the password.

PASSWORD: HARBINGER. ACCEPTED. Omega rubbed his hands together gleefully. He went back to the main menu, coming across and reading an owner's manual. When he was done, he turned off the ship, letting it purr one last time. He got out, closed the cockpit, and began looking for a way to get his ship out of the hold. Fortunately, there was a hold door not far off. He went over to it and opened it. Some alarms went off, but it lowered without a problem. Omega went back to the Harbinger, using his incredible strength to push it towards the open door.

He was still grinning.

x x x x x

The Twilight Pirates slowly began filing out of the mound. Each of them noticed the dusty ground had been turned into a red and brown paste. A couple of unidentifiable bits littered it, but for the most part, Omega had done a good job of cleaning it. To the left was the Corpse Sparrow's ship, to the right, their own, and in the middle...

Omega stood, hugging and crooning to the dragon jet like a child with a new toy.

Most of the raiders sweatdropped. The rest went to their ship, looking for any damages. As the commander came out, Alfredo tagging along behind him, he went over to Omega. Not sure how to address the blood-covered menace, he coughed softly.

Omega whirled, brows down-turned at being interrupted. "Yes...?"

The commander scuffed his boot against the ground. "Well, we have gathered all of the artifacts. Your mission is complete, so..."

Omega smiled. "I get paid. Goodie."

"Yes, it's time to pay you." he reached into the back pocket of his coat, taking out his wallet. After some digging around, he took out the $3000 he owed. Omega took it, putting it into the same pocket as his keys. He reached into his other pocket, taking out the communicator.

"I believe this belongs to you," he tossed it, and the commander caught it. Omega turned to his ship, opened the cockpit, and got inside. But before he could shut it, he was hailed by the commander.

"Wait. You did a marvellous job today, even if it was pricey. Is there any way to get a hold of you?"

Omega turned to face him, his face showing no emotion. "Come to hunter's camp, and hope you get lucky." He closed the cockpit, turned on the systems, and began takeoff.

As the red jet flew off into the distance, Alfredo turned to his leader, "He may have been pricey, but it was certainly worthwhile. We'll never have to worry about our rivals again, _and_ we got a new aircraft out of it."

He turned to face Alfredo, "True, true... And if people found out that bad things happened to those who tried to attack us, then I daresay they'll be discouraged from following suit."

"Very true, Scimitar sir."

The pair stared into the distance. Evening was in full swing, the horizon glowed like fire. The clouds were clearing, their shadows receding from the ground below. Alfredo turned back to his commander.

"But I think that there's something we'll both agree on here."

"What is that?"

"That we must keep him a secret for as long as we can. A mercenary of that calibre, along with whoever his buddies were, is a valuable find. Too valuable, perhaps, to share."

Scimitar looked at him. "I think you're absolutely right. _Far_ too valuable to share..."

The two left their conversation, heading back towards the ships.

x x x x x

Omega arrived back at the apartment building. He'd bribed a young hunter into finding a hanger for his jet, and the hunter had produced a nicely secluded one (since Ouroboros, many more of the hangers were available). After putting necessary safety precautions in place, he closed and locked the hanger. The young hunter also told Omega that he'd convinced the hanger's owner to let Omega park there. Omega answered by giving him $500, then walking off as the hunter whooped in glee.

As he entered the complex, he turned to the receptionist. He told her that he'd pay for room 311 and room 312's occupants. At first she laughed, then gaped as he produced the $3000, turned around, and headed for the elevators.

The moment he entered room 311, he was greeted by incredulous looks. The Gem gang stared at him for a moment, then began assaulting him with questions.

"What the HELL happened to you?!"

"Oh my gosh, are you alright?"

"ACK! Just look at your shirt! What did you do to it?"

"Whoa mister, did you go into a meat shop and get-"

"- attacked by a beef-wielding butcher or somethin'? You look awful!"

Opal jumped up, rushing over to him, "Geeze you're a mess. Come on, over here."

She dragged Omega over to the sink, grabbing a dish rag on her way. Wetting it, she began scrubbing furiously at his arm.

"You poor thing, you must've gone through hell in a hand basket to have gotten this-"

She lifted the rag, staring at it. As well as the blood, it was coated with black gunk and grit.

"-Dirty..." She looked at Omega. "When was the last time you had a bath?"

"Bath?" He answered quizzically. Ruby stood straight up, appalled.

"You mean to say that you can't remember the last time you had a _bath_?! My GOD, what are you thinking!?" She rushed over, grabbing Omega's other arm. "There's a bathroom right there, so let's get to it, Opal!"

The two girls began pulling him towards the bathroom. He broke free, backing up. "No way, you're not gonna make me have a bath. I'm a reploid, I don't need one!"

He continued backing up, until he hit something. Looking up, he saw it was Emerald towering over him. Emerald grabbed him, pinning his arms to his sides. The rest of the gang came forward, a mischievous glint in their eyes.

"But you _will_ have a bath, Mr. Mucky..." The gang crept in, except for Amethyst, who was opening the bathroom door.

Omega, tired from his earlier exploits, simply muttered. "Aw, Hell..."

The Gem Gang pounced!

x x x x x

Grey and Aile walked down the street. They were enjoying a peaceful walk down the main drag of Hunter's camp. Many of the hunters saluted them, being well aware that they were the famous Mega Men. Grey glanced back at Aile, who was walking behind him.

"Hey mom, why are we taking a walk again?"

"Because," she replied, "It helps to clear your mind. Besides, I haven't seen too much of camp before, so I thought it might be fun to explore."

"Okay, that makes sense..."

The two continued walking. It was when they arrived in a residential area that they heard the commotion.

"Don't even try!"

"Damnit, get a better hold of him!"

"Oof!"

"Lock the door!"

"I won't give up that easily!"

"Says you!"

"Get back here!"

"OW!"

They looked around, confused. It didn't take them long to find the source. Three floors up, a window covered by a curtain shook. As they watched, the shadows of its occupants flitted to and fro across the narrow glass, some running, some jumping (or being thrown), and some flailing appendages. Grey turned to Aile.

"Think we should try and help them?"

She shook her head. "No, let them settle their dispute themselves. Interfering isn't always the best thing."

With that, the mega men left. The chaos in the apartment went on undisturbed as the sun slowly set, taking with it the last light of an unknowingly profound day.

* * *

Phew. I finally finished! Man, this was a longer chapter than usual. I hoped that you guys enjoyed it! Oh, and sorry For the earlier "Author Note". I just felt like it.

Omega-"Here, kitty kitty, I won't hurt you if you come out...much..."

SubZeroChimera-"Dagnabbit Omega, I'm a _Chimaera_, not a cat!"

Omega-"Found you!"

SubZeroChimera-"Oh Shit!" _Runs_

Omega-"I love it when they try to run..." _Chases_

SubZeroChimera-"Thanks again for readiiiiiiiinnng!!"


	7. Wet, weird, grumpy, and wet

SubZeroChimera-_enters the room, covered with bandages _"Phew, I'm glad that's over..." _looks at staring cro_w_d._"Oh, hey there! Back for another chapter? Great! Let's get started!"

Crowd-_Backs off, then begins running for life._

SubZeroChimera "What?"_Looks behind her at the red reploid with a sword._"Oh Crap!"_Runs._

Omega-"And so it begins again..."

Disclaimer; You know who belongs to who, and I just wanted to add that Alfredo and Scimitar are also moine. Hey, was that just an English accent? Oh, no, wait, just a typo... Nuts.

* * *

"DAMNIT! FINE ALREADY! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

The bathroom door was slammed shut. Everyone cheered, even though they were more ragged-looking than when they had started. Opal smirked mischievously.

"Gave up, did you?"

The response was muffled. "Only because I wasn't about to let you see me without a shirt on."

"I saw you shirtless the first time I met you."

"You know what I mean!"

"It's a shame, really..."

"I HEARD THAT!"

The rest of the Gem Gang were reduced to laughter following the retort. Inside the bathroom, Omega's face was red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. The bathroom was small, with a monotone gray colour covering its entire surface. There was a toilet, mirror, and a sink crowded against one side of the wall, while the bath (complete with shower head) was against the adjacent wall. Apart from soaps, little else covered the counter surrounding the sink or the side of the bathtub. An unused towel hung on a rack to his right.

"By the way, you can use the soap by the bathtub. If you don't come out of there smelling of lavender-"

"But the soap doesn't-"

"Smell like lavender!"

"Shut up! If you don't come out of there smelling _nice_..." Ruby's voice paused (she was scowling at the twins), "then we're going straight back in there to clean you up _properly_. And yes, I did say _we _for a reason."

"Perverts," Omega turned around and locked the door, ignoring the snickers from the other side. He went over and stepped into the bathtub, taking off his tattered clothes as he did so. After turning the temperature to just below hot, he pulled on the tub's knob, then pulled on the shower lever. But instead of the water being warm, it was freezing cold!

"YEEAAARRGH!"

"Oh yeah, we forgot to mention that you have to let it warm up first. Oops."

"I'm gonna kill you-!"

"Stark naked? That'll be one for the records."

Omega kept his mouth shut as more guffaws came from outside the bathroom. Instead of thinking up back-talk, he decided to just get the shower over with. Fortunately, the water was warming up. So Omega grabbed the soap, lathered his hands, and began scrubbing.

Despite his previous reluctance, Omega was actually enjoying the wash. As the bloody grit sloshed down the drain, an unfamiliar clean feeling crawled over his skin. The soap bubbles almost tingled as his hands rubbed away the dirt he had been covered with for years. After all, the only kind of bath that was available in the underground was a dust bath. And a dust bath doesn't really cut it.

Then Omega got to his hair. The water added weight to it, and while he slid his fingers through his hair, whole battalions of dust-bunnies were washed out and drowned in the puddles at his feet. The true white of his hair was finally exposed, gleaming underneath its coat of wetness.

After fifteen minutes, he turned off the water. Squeezing more water out of his hair, he let it drip into the bathtub. Even the god of destruction had to admit that the shower was enjoyable. Grabbing the towel, Omega dried himself off. When he was finished, he looked into the mirror and began combing his hair with his digits. Then he looked lower in the mirror, surprised at what he saw.

On his chest, previously hidden by grime, was a long, jagged scar. Lighter than the rest of his armoured skin, it ran from his right shoulder to the bottom of his left ribs. He glanced over his shoulder, seeing that the scar went through to his back, too. Memories of his humiliating defeat at the hand of his rival flowed through his mind.

"Damn you, Zero. You and those pathetic guardians..." He remembered his vows he'd made the moment he'd discovered that he'd been trapped in a single room. He had cursed the heavens and all levels of hell, promising to reap his revenge tenfold. "Damn you."

His thoughts were interrupted by Amethyst knocking on the door, "Hey, you still alive in there? We've got some clothes out here for you if you are."

"Yah, yah, I'm coming..." tying the towel around his waist, he unlocked the door and opened it, enough that he could pop his head out of it, "just hand them over, then."

"Okay, here you go." He gave the clothes to Omega. Behind him, Opal tried to peer into the bathroom.

Unfortunately for her, Omega shut the door as soon as the clothes were in his hands. He put them on quickly, threw the towel on the rack, and left the bathroom.

As he left, he noticed that the girls (excluding Opal), along with the twins, were nowhere in sight. When he asked Diamond about it, he received a nonchalant response.

"They've gone back to their room for the night. You know, to sleep? Since you're rooming here, the twins have moved to the girl's apartment."

"Okay, thanks." he sauntered over to the couch, ignoring Opal as he passed. Upon being ignored, she huffed, before leaving to meet with the other girls.

Amethyst, who was now sitting at the table, looked at Omega, "Don't you want any dinner? We have leftovers."

"No thanks, not hungry." he flopped down onto the couch. Tired from the day's slaughter, he gave a quick yawn and went to sleep.

"Sometimes I wonder about that guy..." said Amethyst. Emerald, sitting across from him, nodded in agreement.

x x x x x

Alfredo and Scimitar stood in awe at the data flowing down the screen.

After they had excavated the ruins of the lab, they had sold almost all of what they had found. Alfredo, however, wanted to keep the main hard-drive of one of the computers, along with all of the data disks. Because of the victory over their rivals (and the now excessive funds), Scimitar allowed him to keep the data. Normally, it would have been sold, but Alfredo's curiosity had gotten the better of him. After rigging up his computer, he had proceeded to read the interesting tidbits that it had to offer. It was when he looked into a particularly strange file that he'd called immediately for the commander.

And now, the two of them were staring incredulously at the data from the file. The commander turned to his first mate.

"You know what this means, don't you?"

Alfredo didn't bother returning the look, still gaping at the computer. "This data... It's been lost for centuries! Not even _Legion _knows about this... It's... incredible..."

He finally turned to Scimitar, "This data... It's _imperative _that we read all of it. It may contain more information, more secrets that we must act upon!"

Scimitar nodded. "Yes... We will act upon these secrets. In fact, we must change our organization's very name! This... is a turning point! A new purpose!" he looked at his hand, clenched in front of his face. His knuckles were pale from the strength of his grasp. "We will no longer be known as the Twilight Pirates. From this day forward, we shall be known as-" he raised his fist to the ceiling, his eyes set as if he were looking down the gods himself, "Dark Prophecy!"

Thick silence filled the room. Alfredo nodded, his solemn expression filled with understanding. "How appropriate a name. After all, this data..." he looked at the screen, "foretells the end of this world..."

x x x x x

Four very bored mega man sat around a circular table. Thetis was playing with a yo-yo, Siarnaq was having a silent conversation with his biometal, Aeolus was sitting in a stoic silence, and Atlas...

Her fingers edged under the table's edge, grasping it tightly. Damn that Thetis, his yo-yo going up and down, up and down, up and down so many times that it was driving her to insanity. She had had enough. She was going to cause some chaos! The moment her muscles began to flex, however, Aeolus put his hand down on the table, preventing her plans.

"I'd rather the table not go flying, thank you." She looked at him, surprised. Thetis, from the other side of the table, kept yo-yoing, and Siarnaq ignored them completely. Atlas went back to staring at the hell-born yo-yo, eyes narrowed. Aeolus followed her gaze.

"If you want to do it properly..." He reached into his shirt pocket, bringing out a pair of scissors. Leaning over, he cut the yo-yo's string. It clattered to the floor.

"Hey!" Thetis complained, facing Aeolus. "I was using that, meanie! Now I have to repair it!" He looked back down at the floor. "Wha-? Where'd it go?" He began searching for the missing toy, getting off of his chair and onto his hands and knees to search for it.

Atlas glanced at Aeolus, who shrugged. They looked at Siarnaq, whose eyes, normally flat and emotionless, were twinkling slightly. Atlas looked back at Aeolus, but remained silent, a small smirk on her face.

The door to the small room opened, causing all four of the mega men to look up. Thetis cracked his head on the bottom of the table.

"Ow!" The blue teen went ignored. Master Thomas entered the room, looking at the three sitting around the table. Thetis scrambled out from under the table, rubbing his head as he sat back down in his seat.

Thomas addressed them. "I see that you all are doing well. Do you still wish to remain silent about what has happened?" They nodded. Thomas continued, "Then I will bother you no further, unless you wish to change your minds." He began to leave.

Aeolus piped up, "There is something we would like to ask _you_, though."

Thomas turned around, his face as emotionless as Siarnaq's, "And what would that be?"

"We wish to join Legion. With Albert and the Model W's gone, the Game of Destiny is no more. Because of this, there is nothing else for us mega men to do. We might as well, so... What say you?" He looked inquiringly at Thomas. Thomas stood still for a while, then smiled.

"I say this; Welcome to Legion!" He left the room, motioning for the mega men to follow.

x x x x x

Outside, night was stirring, covering the land with its dark, soothing embrace.

Two lone people walked along a sea wall just outside of Legion. Both of them were talking in low, excited tones. Water lapped at the wall as the two sat on it, leaning forwards to kiss each other.

"Oh, John..." said one as they came apart.

"My sweet Julie..." said the other. The pair looked passionately into another's eyes, and were about to lean into another kiss when a strange sound was heard.

_THUNK_.

The female looked around, "What was that?"

Her partner also looked around, "I don't know, dear..."

The ocean crashed against the sea wall. The pair looked down at it, then recoiled in horror. The woman's hands cupped themselves over her mouth, and the man, after recovering from his initial shock, grabbed his lover and ran towards the city.

"Police! Ambulance! 911! Anybody! Help!" They dashed towards civilization, panic clawing at their hearts.

Below the sea wall, two bodies were being tossed gently by the waves. One black, the other white.

* * *

OMG... Cliffhangers... a _lot_ of cliffhangers...

SubZeroChimera-"Please don't hate me!"

Omega- "Of course they don't hate you! But just in case, I'm going to kill you extremely slowly..."

SubZeroChimera-"Please help me!"

Omega-_drags the whimpering chimaera down a hallway, looking at the audience._ "Oi, what're you lookin' at?"

Audience-_backs off._


	8. Freedom! A new day awaits!

Before we get to the fun, I would like to inform you that there is a secret ending in ZX advent, of which I was unaware of before beginning this story. As such, that ending is "nonexistent" in this storyline. Also, thank you for your patience in waiting for this new chapter. I've had previous engagements which have prevented me from getting to writing this. And, finally, the two "new" characters in this chapter belong to Capcom. Thank you again for your time. Now enough of my rambling; On with the show!

THUNK!

WHAM!

SubZeroChimera-"Yeowch!"

Omega-"You're not getting away this time!"

SubZeroChimera-"Says you!" _Crashes through a two story window._

Omega-"If you think that'll stop me-!" _Jumps through the shattered window, _"then think again!"

SubZeroChimera-"No, I didn't think it'd stop you. "_Points downward._"I was relying on gravity to do that."

Omega-"(Expletive deleted)!" _Falls_"Oof!"

SubZeroChimera-"I guess you forgot that Chimaeras can fly, eh?"

Omega-_Brings out gun_."And I guess you forgot that I have this!" _Shoots._

SubZeroChimera-"OUCH!" _Falls._

Both-_Begin a grappling fist-fight._

Audience-_Amasses to watch the brawlers._

SubZeroChimera-"Oh, hey!" _Throws Omega to the side. _"Welcome to a new chapter of Happy Anniversary! I'm your host, SubZeroChimera! Here to bring you an exciting new installment of your favourite fanfiction!"

Omega-_Ruefully rubs his head. _"You know they're here just to see us fight, right? They don't actually like this fic-"

SubZeroChimera-"LIES! BLASHPEMY! DOWN WITH THE HERETIC!" _Attacks._

Omega-"Oh, shit-!" _Gets tackled by the Chimaera._

Audience-_Stands and watches, some with popcorn._

_

* * *

_

Darkness... all he could see was darkness. It went as far as the eye could see, fogged his mind, surrounded him completely. Was he alone? Was this life after death? Where was his sister?

He struggled vainly against the black void. He felt nothing, smelt nothing, heard nothing. He _was _nothing. But all he could think of was his sister. Where was she? He needed to find her!

"Sis... Where... Where are... you... Sis..."

The darkness didn't answer. He thrashed around again, but to no avail. The shadows merely taunted him with their eternal depths. He tried, one last time, to contact her.

"...Sis... Please... Sis...!"

Nothing. He gave up to the void, unconscious.

He woke up again. The darkness was still there, but something was different. It did not consume him as it did before. A small light glowed from a distance, shedding soothing rays towards him. He wanted that light, wanted desperately to get to it. But when he tried to go towards it, his feet touched nothing. Frustrated, he resorted to yelling at it.

"You stupid light! Come here! I demand you come to me right now!"

Surprisingly enough, the light obeyed. It came closer with agonizing slowness.

"Hurry up, I haven't got all day!"

It sped up. Just outside of his reach, it slowed down. He yelled at it more, but this time, it didn't respond. It just floated there, teasing him. Angered, he swiped at it. It backed off, then came back when his hand retracted. Taking more care this time, he slowly, ever so slowly, inched his hand towards it. His hand was getting closer, closer...

He opened his eyes. The white room shone with a blinding glare, causing him to blink. When he was used to the light, he surveyed the room (or at least, what he could see of it).

As he had first seen, the room was a bright white. There seemed to be cabinets of some sort off to his left. However, he could not look to his right because of a strange machine blocking his view. Feeling around, he discovered that he was on a table of some sort, perhaps an operating one.

In front of him, across the room, was a door. It began to open, creaking slightly. A figure walked into the room. It looked familiar, but his blurred vision prevented him from discerning who it was.

"Hey! You're awake! How're ya feeling?" the figure asked.

After a moment of collecting his thoughts, he answered, "Shitty."

"I don't doubt it after what you two went through."

"Us two?" he struggled upwards, then leaned forward. Grasping his head, he looked around again. Now that he could see past the machine, he found that there was another bed to his right. And in that bed...

"Pandora!" He sprang out of bed, dashing over to her bed. "Sis! Wake up! Sis!" She lay still. He grabbed her shoulders, shaking her lightly. Her eyelids twitched, and she opened them slowly.

"Huh? What...? Prometheus...? Prometheus!"

Prometheus hugged her, tears of joy in his eyes. "Pandora, you're okay! I was so worried!"

"I was worried, too..." she said. They stayed in their embrace for a while, until they heard the other figure speak.

"I'm glad you guys are doing so well! When we found you in the surf, we were all concerned that you might not make it..." He smiled. The two looked over to see that the figure was Grey.

"Grey? Who's we? What...?" he stuttered. What was going on here? Just then, the door to the room creaked again.

"So you are up, it seems." Master Mikhail stepped into the room. He wore a friendly smile.

"You! What are you doing here? Where's-!"

"Albert? Six feet under, somewhere. Not that I have time to care. With him gone, there's a lot more work around here." From the end of a hallway, someone called. "speaking of work..." He left the room.

Puzzled, Prometheus continued to stare at the door. That is, until he was interrupted by Grey.

"So, do you like them?"

Prometheus's view slid from the door to Grey. His puzzlement had grown into full-blown confusion. "Like what?" he frowned.

"Your new bodies! Didn't you notice them?"

Apparently, he hadn't. Grey watched as the confusion turned into elation. Prometheus' gaze first went to his hands, then to the rest of his body. Pandora was doing the same.

"New bodies? New Bodies! Does this mean-"

"That we don't have to fight anymore?" Pandora finished. She rocketed out of bed, barely missing her brother. They grabbed each other's hands, dancing around in a circle.

"We're free-ee, we're free-ee, we're finally free-ee!" They continued dancing, nearly colliding with Grey. Prometheus suddenly broke his grip on Pandora, grabbing Grey in an overly-friendly chokehold.

"I love ya, man! Thank you!" He tightened his hold. His frown suddenly slipped off of his face as he glanced at his captive.

"You tell anyone I said that and I'll kill you."

"You're doing a good enough job of it already..." his sister pointed out. Grey was struggling against the former mega man's arms, his face turning an unhealthy purple.

"Oh geeze! I'm sorry!" Prometheus dropped Grey, who began to wheeze. "Are you alright?I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No..." he said, "but remind me to stay away from you, okay?"

"Okay."

Several minutes past. When Grey finally caught his breath, he looked around at the two siblings. A smile formed on his face, and he began to laugh. The laughter spread, and they were soon leaning over, clutching their stomachs because of the volume.

"Hahaha! And then I-"

"Choked me you were so... Gwahahaha!"

"Heeheehee! Shoot, I wish we had a camera! Haha!"

Outside the room, peering through the space between the wall and the door, was a very smug looking mega man. He whispered quietly to the purple biometal floating at his side.

"If only they knew. If only they knew..." In his hand, a recording device was pointed at the giggling trio inside the room.

"So, Siarnaq, are you happy that I can talk now?"

"Yes. Yes I am."

They continued to watch the three mega men.

X X X X X

Omega woke up as the sun shed its rays onto his eyes. Morning had arrived. He yawned and stretched, then looked around the room. And promptly jumped back with a yelp. Opal laughed as he, and the couch, fell backwards.

"Gotcha! Good morning, sleepy eyes!" she looked at her handiwork, noting with satisfaction that Omega was clutching at his heart.

"Are you _trying _to give me a heart attack? Cripes!" He got up, brushing off some dust.

"No, I'm just here to wake you up! You slept in, silly! Now come on, we're gonna be late."

Omega crossed his arms. "That's what Amethyst said when we first met. Are you guys always in a hurry?"

"Nope, just while you're here." She grabbed his arm, dragging him towards the door. "So get a move on, we've got work to do."

"What kind of work?"

"SHOPPING!"

* * *

Audience member-_Stares_

Omega-"What're you lookin' at?"

Audience member-_Keeps staring_

Omega-"Would you stop that?"

Audience member-_Keeps staring_

Omega-"It's not that bad, so would you mind not doing that?"

Audience member-_Keeps staring_

Omega-"I said STOP IT!"

Audience member-_Keeps staring_

Omega-"Ah, screw you. Buzz off."

Audience member-_Goes away_

Omega-"Good riddance. Now..." _Looks at the ropes holding him upside-down on the flagpole_ "How do I get down?"


	9. The market

Omega- "I just noticed something"

SubZeroChimera- "What's that?"

Omega- "Well, being part lion, you're also part cat. Does that mean that you're afraid of water?

SubZeroChimera- "Of course not! I really don't mind water at all! I just don't like getting too wet too fly. It's hard to get dry, what with all my fur."

Snake- "Can get quite annoying, actually."

Omega- "Uh... I think your tail just talked."

SubZeroChimera- "Of course, silly. Honestly, that second head of mine isn't just for show."

Omega- "So what does it do, then?"

SubZeroChimera- "He can talk, bite, breathe fire-"

Omega- "Wait, did you just say _he_? I thought Chimaeras were all female?

SubZeroChimera- "We are, but my tail prefers to be known as a guy. He technically doesn't have a gender."

Snake- "I also help her make important decisions, although sometimes, we just argue about them. Most of the time, though, I act"dormant" or like a normal tail should."

Omega- "Yeah..." _backs up _"I'll just be leaving now..." _runs_

SubZeroChimera- "What's his problem?"

Snake- "It may have something to do with the fact that you can talk to yourself for hours and not be considered insane."

SubZeroChimera- "But I _am _insane."

Snake- "Shush, the readers don't know that."

SubZeroChimera- "They do now."

Snake- "Eh, it was pretty obvious anyways."

SubZeroChimera- "I heard that."

Snake- "It wouldn't be a very good insult if you didn't."

SubZeroChimera- _Rolls eyes "_And some people think _they _have problems..."

* * *

The market was alive with activity, happy (and-not-so-happy) shoppers laughing, chatting, buying, or window (or rather, stall) shopping. Likewise, the shopkeepers called at the bustling pedestrians, shouting out the superiority of their products. The ground was covered in cobblestone, dust, and the occasional tough moss or grass. It was a rural, pretty place to be.

Omega had just escaped it.

He ran along the unkempt alley, the sound of the wide open market muffled by the heavy silence of the corridor. Two buildings crowded the lane, making the atmosphere similar to that of a tunnel. His narrow escape from Opal and her "cohorts", the other Gem Gang women, was still in progress. As soon as he rounded a corner, he heard their voices from the entrance to the alley.

"I think I saw something!"

"Well I don't see anything."

"But I really-!"

"That alley's at least 50 feet long, there's no way he could've gotten to the end of it already."

"Oh alright, let's go look over there."

"Good plan."

Omega held his breath, waiting for his pursuers to leave. He didn't have to wait long, as the sound of the women's footfalls quickly faded away. He peeked cautiously around the corner, and when satisfied that they'd left, continued on his way.

As he followed the maze-like alley, he noticed that it twisted and turned between numerous different buildings, usually not far from the main drag. It also branched off at apparently random intervals, leading into other alleyways. Dust and grime from ages unknown thickly carpeted the ground, adding to the silence by muffling his steps. Omega memorized the path he took, noting whatever "landmarks" he could. He also noted that, if it came to it, the alleys would be a nice and quiet place to commit murder... After all, judging by the muck, no one ventured here.

Several minutes later, he left the alley. Omega was a bit surprised; He was at the hangars.

"Ah well, since I'm here..." he said to himself. Omega walked towards the hangar his new ship was in. Along the way, he looked into the other hangars. Most of them were empty, or contained damaged ships. Some of the ships were being worked on by hunters of various descriptions, but it was only when he got to "his" hangar that he took any real notice of the others. A short, squat man was standing at the door, scanning around for someone. He had a mustache, complete with goatee, and glasses. Slightly bald, the man wore smart, almost formal clothes, despite the dirt of hunter's camp. When Omega tried to enter the hangar, he was stopped by the man.

"Hello there. Are you the one whose ship is in this hangar?"

Omega glanced back warily at the man. "So what if I am?"

"You're a suspicious one, hmm?" The man smirked, "No need to worry though. I am merely the landlord, if you will, of this block of hangars."

"I got permission the other day to park here, you know."

"I do know. I merely came to settle some loose ends."

Omega folded his arms, frowning down at the landlord. "Just what do you mean, loose ends?" His eyes slanted, making Omega appear displeased. Which he was.

The landlord noticed this, and decided to cut to the chase, "What I mean is that I'd like to know if the arrangements are permanent. I don't mind lending the hangar out for free for a little while, after all, after the Ouroboros incident, I'm not in need of empty space. But if you wish to keep your ship here for a while, then I need to be paid rent. Sorry, that's just how it goes."

Omega's frown became more pronounced, his eyes angled more sharply. Both parties were well aware that he was becoming more bad-tempered (and more intimidating). "Rent? I'd like to know how much rent you want from me."

"Well, you don't have to pay it immediately-"

"_How much_?" Omega's voice had lost all traces of pleasantry.

"$500..."

"500, huh? How long will that last me for?"

"2 weeks. Are you fine with that?"

Instead of answering, Omega went inside the hangar. The landlord followed into the entrance, then stopped just inside the door. He looked quizzically at Omega as the silver-haired reploid went over to his ship, opened the hatch, reached inside, and began rooting around for something. As Omega leaned farther into the ship, he muttered loudly.

"Darn it, where did I put it... Ah!" He emerged, holding the dead raiders' battered wallet. Reaching inside, he took out $1000. Walking over, he handed the money to the landlord. "That should pay for the next month, shouldn't it?"

The landlord took the money, looking astonished. "And you're just going to hand me a month's worth of rent? I'll take it, of course." the money was pocketed, and he turned to leave.

"Just don't bother me for the next month, got it? And if you're trying to steal from me, you'll regret it." Omega gave him a look that could melt ice. The landlord gulped.

"I assure you, I mean you no ill will. Have a nice day, then." He hurriedly left, leaving Omega standing with the wallet.

Omega looked down at the wallet, counting the money inside. There was about $500 left inside it. He took out the money, putting it in his pocket, then threw the wallet to the side.

"Well, time to get some clothes of my own." With that, he left, heading back towards the market.

X X X X X

"Uhh... I don't get it..." Prometheus recited for the umpteenth time. The others around the table all sighed in exasperation.

Pandora, Prometheus, Siarnaq and Aeolus were in a sitting room. It was a casual room, no pictures on the wall, but comfortably furnished. Each of the mega men was sitting in a chair or sofa, lounging around a circular glass table. Two biometals, Model H and Model P, were floating just beside the shoulders of their mega men.

Pandora, who was previously scrutinizing a plant, turned to her brother. "What they're trying to say is that they gave us _new _bodies, since they were unable to modify our _old _ones. Hence, when Grey asked us if we liked our new bodies."

"If that's what they meant then why didn't they just say it?"

The others sweatdropped. "But that's what we _did _say..." muttered Aeolus loudly. Pandora turned back to the plant, whether embarrassed or tired, no one could tell.

"No, you said something about biometal cores and-"

"INPUT: SITUATION FUTILE. CHANGE OF SUBJECT MAY PROVE USEFUL."

"Yes, you're right. We'll just talk about this some more later, alright?" Aeolus shifted in his seat. Model H also moved, floating forwards slightly. He turned to face Aeolus.

"Perhaps we should inquire about their allegiances." suggested the biometal. Aeolus nodded.

"Allegiances? Whatta you mean by that?"

"Well, according to the mission report Grey and Ashe submitted, you two said right before the Model Ws attacked you that you "wished to destroy all that Albert had made". Quite frankly, we are all concerned that you meant Legion."

"Oh yeah..." Prometheus looked to the side meekly, "Well, me and Pandora were really mad about being enslaved for 150 years, so we kinda wanted everything dead. You could say that we weren't all there at the time..."

"One must wonder if you ever were."

"Shut up, birdbrain."

Aeolus smirked. Pandora turned away from the plant again, then shyly pointed out, "Well, there shouldn't be any need for you to worry about that anymore... after all, our new bodies.. are just normal ones..."

"That is true." Model H mused. "No special powers, no anything. Nothing to worry about."

"Yeah, nothing to worry about. We're just normal people now." Prometheus frowned, "With normal timers. Oh well, at least we won't have to go for "maintenance" every week."

"About the timers..." Aeolus started. Prometheus' eyes shot towards him, staring him down.

"_What _about the timers?"

Aeolus coughed nervously. "Well, we were in such a rush to get your minds out of your old bodies, that we didn't have time to program the timers in the new ones."

"Oh." Prometheus backed off, looking relieved. "Are we going to be programmed later, then, or what?"

"Well, to tell you the truth, I have no idea. It's up to the digression of the Masters, really. And seeing as they're so busy right now, I doubt they'll have time to think about that."

"Hey, that's fine with me! It just means that we get some more free time!" He stood up, grinning. "Now if you're alright with it, I want to go and have some fun with that free time."

"Fair enough. Just put on these tracking devices." The other mega men stood up, and Aeolus put his hand into pocket, taking out two bracelet-like mechanisms.

"You don't trust us... Can't say I blame you..." Pandora reached out her hand. Her brother followed suite. Aeolus gave them the bracelets, and they put them on.

"Now if you'll excuse us, we'd like to leave now." The siblings headed towards the door. The others made no motion to stop them.

After they had left, Siarnaq turned to Aeolus. "INQUIRY."

"Hmm? What about?" the wind mega man asked curiously.

"OBTAINED RECORDING CONTAINING HUMOROUS SUBJECT MATTER. INPUT COURSE OF ACTION."

"We'll watch it, then blackmail someone with it. That's the usual thing to do, anyways. So, do you wish to watch it now?"

"AFFIRMATIVE."

X X X

Pandora ran down the crowded street, dodging people as she went.

"Damnit, where'd he go?"She kept running, occasionally stopping to glance through the groups of pedestrians. Of all the places to go after being freed, the first place Prometheus wanted to go was the market. A very full, noisy market. And she couldn't risk calling out his name, since he was infamous among many people. Blowing their cover the first day wasn't an option.

"Of all the places, why here?" she complained, dashing off into the crowd. The next time she stopped and looked, she was hailed by someone behind her.

"Are yeh lost, missie?"

He was a large, rough looking man. Behind him were two more men, big and imposing. She didn't like them one bit.

"That's none of your business, really."

"Aw, come on, we was only tryin' ta help." Said one of the men. Pandora backed up, fear beginning to nag at her mind.

"Shame, such a pretty liddle thing like you, all alone..."

"Come wid us, we'll help you out."

"No, thanks, I don't need any help." Pandora backed up faster, wishing that she had a weapon.

"That weren't a question, missie..."

They started walking closer, grinning menacingly. Pandora turned and ran, passing through the oblivious crowds. After a few minutes, she looked behind her for the men. Still running, Pandora saw that one of them was only a few meters away. She increased her speed, faced forwards again-

And ran into someone.

Pandora fell to the ground with a loud thump. After the initial shock, she got up and faced the one she'd run into. He simply looked at her, his face emotionless. He wasn't one of the three men that was chasing her, she noticed with relief. In fact, he wasn't anything like the other men at all. His figure was a lot more thin and lean, with long, flowing hair.

"There you are, missie!" She jumped forward, just in time to avoid one of the mens' grasping hands. Pandora stumbled backwards, then felt a stall halt her progress. The two other men chasing her surrounded Pandora and the stranger, forcing her against the stall. The stranger barely noticed, continuing his investigation of the shop's contents.

"You're a sneaky one, missie. Hehehe, We're gonna have fun with you..." The three snickered cruelly.

"B-back off! Just leave me alone!" She cried out, bringing up her fists defensively.

"Ooh, she thinks she can fight!" the leader teased, laughing along with his partners-in-crime. "How long do you think she can last against us, boys?"

"Not long, unless her friend here tries to help her! She may last another minute, then! Gwahahaha!"

The leader clenched his fists, still grinning nastily. "So, boyo, you gonna help her or not? If you're not, then step aside." The leader took a step forward.

The stranger merely glanced over his shoulder, apparently uninterested in the situation. "There is no need for me to be involved in this affair, so I'll ignore it, thank you."

"You're quite the stubborn one, ain'tcha? Just get outta the way, you liddle twerp, and we may spare ya!" replied one of the lackees. He and his partner moved in closer, boxing Pandora and the stranger in.

Pandora had nowhere to go, so she took up a defensive position. The stranger turned, placing a shirt back on the stall. "Did you just order me to "get out of the way"?" he asked, a strange tone to his voice.

"Ya, so what if I did?" was the reply.

"No one orders me around. No one." He suddenly jerked forward, catching the lackee in his chest with a powerful punch. The sound of ribs breaking caused the crowds of people to instantly fall silent as he sailed through the air, landing on the ground with a crash_. _He tried to get up, but fell backwards, coughing up blood.

"Anyone else think that they're better than me?" he asked the remaining men. They backed off, ferociously shaking their heads. When out of his attack range, they turned and ran, leaving their comrade to be administered by some of the crowd.

As quickly as he had turned to fight, he went back to scanning the shirts on the stall. His silver hair followed his movements like a cape, glinting slightly in the sunlight.

Pandora was stunned at his agility and power. She stood there, mouth slightly open, until she shook herself out out her daze and addressed the man.

"Uh... thank you... for helping me..."

He faced her, that uncaring look back on his face. "I didn't do it for you. I did it because he was an idiot and deserved it."

She looked to the ground. "...Still... thank you..." She smiled, although she didn't know if he could see it. Her face was burning slightly.

"Hmph. You're welcome then." He was back to looking at the stall. Pandora's smile widened, but only a little. Then she heard him.

"Oi! Sis! SIS! Get over here! Where were you?" Prometheus ran over, then grabbed her arm. Pandora almost didn't recognize him without his armor. His short, dark red (so dark that it looked black) hair had become rather scruffy looking since she last saw him.

"I found something really cool to show you, but when I turned around, you were gone! Geeze sis, you need to be more careful! Who was that guy, anyways?" He ranted on, dragging her through the crowd.

Some things never change... thought Pandora.

X X X X X

Omega watched the siblings leave.

Strange pair, he mused, as the two left. The crowd went back to their own business, with the exception of those taking the injured man to the hospital. The girl, her shoulder length blue hair waving, frequently glanced back at Omega. Her cheeks were pink for some reason.

Omega turned back to the stall, picking up the dark crimson shirt. He slung it over his arm, then began to investigate a pair of black pants. They were his size, and had many pockets. He picked them up too, then began looking around for the owner of the stall. The owner was hurrying to the stall, looking suspiciously at the blood on the ground not far from her wares.

"I'd like to buy these, please." He asked her as she got within hearing range (which was about a meter).

"Oh, okay, I'll get that wrapped up for you right away," she reached beneath the other side of the stall, taking out a small paper bag. She took the clothes, packing them into the bag. "That'll be $75, please."

Omega took out the money and gave it to her. She took it, putting it in a small safe. Then she passed him the bag. Grabbing it with one hand, he tucked it at his side, then set out to look for more goods.

"THERE HE IS!" someone shouted. He turned towards the voice, and saw Ruby running towards him.

"Shit!" Omega dashed into the crowd, leaving a panting Ruby to follow him.

* * *

SubZeroChimera- "And that brings us to the end of another gripping chapter of Happy Anniversary! I hope you all enjoyed it!"

Omega- "Not as much as they'll enjoy this!" _throws a bucket of ice water_

SubZeroChimera- "EEEEEEEEEKK!" _Jumps_

Omega- "Hahahaha! Dude, thirty feet! A new record!"

SubZeroChimera- _Glares down from the chandelier _"I hate you, you know that? And I'm a dudette, just so you know!"

Omega- "Ya, I know."

SubZeroChimera- _Grins evilly_

Omega- "What are you up to?"

SubZeroChimera- _Responds by using a lightning attack_

Omega- _Smoking _"You're gonna pay for that, you little-" _Hair fluffs out into a big puffball _"What the hell?"

SubZeroChimera- "It's called static. It can make hair stand on its end, and you just so happen to have a lot of it."

Omega- _Now with afro hair _"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

SubZeroChimera- "Uh-oh" _runs_

Omega- "YEAAAARRRGH!" _chases_


	10. Burned out

Hey, SubZeroChimera here! Sorry I took so long to update. Was working on a new Happy Birthday , I just thought I'd let you know, there's a bit of slang used here by a character. I'll add the terms at the end for those of you who aren't familiar (they may not be exact). Also, the slang is Australian, so I'm just gonna cover my date here and say that I am NOT trying to make fun of Steve. He was AWESOME, and this just a coincidence that the character turned out like he did.

And that character is mine, by the way. You can see him in my Deviantart gallery (I go as SubZeroChimera there, too).

**Edit- **see next chapter for info on... well, it's in the author notes there, anyways.

* * *

The three Gem women had him cornered.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, mister!" Opal snarled.

"Why did you try and sneak off like that? Members of the Gem Gang must observe the buddy system!" Ruby lectured. Sapphire followed her lead.

"It can be dangerous to go off by yourself..." she said softly. Omega, trying to keep his temper in check, crossed his arms and snorted.

"I'm perfectly fine taking care of myself. There's nothing for _me _to be afraid of, I can assure you. So quit harassing me! And since when was I suddenly a member of your gang? I don't remember signing up!"

Ruby looked offended. "When did you sign up? WHEN DID YOU SIGN UP? You became a member of our group as soon as you started living with us!"

"That's the rule!" Opal and Sapphire chimed, synchronized.

"WHAT! I never heard about that rule!" Omega replied, his temper rising dangerously. If it kept that way, Omega was sure he'd end up obliterating the whole camp. He sighed heavily, trying to calm himself down.

"Something wrong?" Opal asked.

"Yes, something is wrong," he barked, "I've never been one for being social, and now you're demanding I join your group! Excuse me, but maybe there was a reason Amethyst found me in the _desert_?"

The girls took a step back, their previously charged mood fading. "I never thought of it that way..." Ruby thought aloud.

"No, maybe that's because you didn't think AT ALL! You know what? I'm going. I'm outta here." he began charging past the girls, but Sapphire held his arm with both of hers.

"Please, don't go! We were only just getting to know you... at least come back by tomorrow, please?" Please?" her sad eyes were wide, almost hopeful.

Omega let out another sigh, "Fine, I'll be back. Look, I've just gotta go think things out, alright?" Sapphire let go of his arm, and he left. As he did, Opal turned to her comrades.

"I guess it's a bit too big of a change for him." she said. They nodded in agreement.

Omega felt sick. Not because he actually was, but because of the fact that he was forced to stoop down so low, forced to ally himself with the gang. "Dammit, why am I being such a coward?" he complained bitterly. He was the god of destruction, why was he pretending to care? He should be out there, causing chaos and his namesake, destruction, but no, here he was, playing silly games with that pathetic Gem Gang! Why he didn't just ditch the lot of them was beyond him. Why didn't he just forget the lies and rip apart anything in his path, why didn't he go straight to whoever ran this stinking society and show them who's boss, why couldn't he remind these stupid hunters of who he was, why...!

Why... because he had no idea what this society was capable of, he thought bitterly. His logical side, oh-so-neglected before his fight with Zero, was kicking in. How he hated it, but after his loss, he wasn't about to let it go ignored again. Why didn't he ditch the gang? Because he needed somewhere to go after his fights, somewhere to settle down and recover unnoticed. Why didn't he rip apart anything in his path? Because that would cause too much attention to be drawn to him. And who knows what security the ones who ran this society would have. Also, if he went showing or telling everyone who he was, he'd have a price on his head instantly. And a pretty whackin' huge one too, if anyone believed him. The do-gooders would want him dead, the scientists would want to examine him, and the power-hungry maniacs...

Omega shuddered. They'd do exactly what Weil did, try and control him. Use him for their owns gains like the bastards they were. And once his use was up, he'd be discarded, abandoned, just like Weil had done, leaving him to rot like a broken tool. He was _not _going to let that happen again!

Which meant that he was stuck with the gang. Omega began quivering with fury. Was there no better way? This thinking was getting him nowhere! He wasn't built to think, goddammit, he was made to act, to massacre! But what could he do! Omega started gazing around angrily, hoping for something to occupy his mind, or at least to shred to pieces. His wanderings while he thought had brought him out into the main drag of the camp, not far from the entrance to the market. He scanned the going-ons of the hunters, almost desperate to find something to occupy himself before his temper exploded and he slaughtered everyone in sight.

A random hunter seemed to notice his rage. "Whoa buddy, what the heck happened to you?"

"Unless you can help me find something I can legally kill, you weakling, then I suggest you BUZZ OFF!" he roared.

The hunter jumped back, and some of the other hunters did too. The one that had addressed him seemed to be in shock, while another behind him pointed quickly to his right. "Go that way, there's a job board that might-!"

Omega dashed off as fast as he could, determined to find some unfortunate raider or whatever else he could use for target practice. Sprinting along faster than any normal person could ever hope to imagine, he rocketed past crowds of hunters and other camp inhabitants, bowling over his fair share. At last he arrived at a building with a large crowd in front of it. Some sort of commotion was going on.

"That's it! If you fellas can't respect my superior strength, then crikey, you'll feel it!"

An orange reploid, much different than those around him, bounced out from the center of the crowd. "I've been playing nice with you, but now that I'm riled up, I'll show you! I'm tired of being everyone's cobber!" he had a strong accent, Australian perhaps? Omega's curiosity got the better of his anger, watering it down enough that he could begin to think clearly.

"What's going on here?" Omega commanded, his voice cutting through the crowd. The reploid turned to him, his tail burning at the tip. He was covered with red and yellow accenting a thick armor of orange plates. The plates went from his neck down to the tip of his tail, and his arms and powerful legs were also orange. His three fingers looked more like gun barrels. The kangaroo shaped reploid scoffed, looking down at Omega.

"Ooh, lookit this Figjam, thinks he's better than me! Look, you dratted ankle biter, I'm one boomer who won't be taken lightly!" He reached down to his tail, grasping the burning end of it. "Let's see how you like one of my blaze bombs!" The reploid tore off the end, revealing that it was actually a removable orb-like bomb. He threw it heartily at Omega. Omega, however, was ready. He grabbed the bomb in midair, tossing it back at the repliod. It blew up in its owners face, causing him to be thrown back several paces. The reploid recovered, his yellow ears twitching as he turned and grinned at Omega.

"Wasn't expecting that... Crikey, you and me could really have a good blue!"

Omega cocked his head, confused. "What do you mean, blue? Look, your accent and your slang is really starting to annoy me, so shut up or fight!"

The reploid laughed. "That's what a blue is, a fight! I've just resigned as a hunter, so technically, I'm a maverick! And besides, even if you don't want to have a go, I've threatened to set up a bomb in hunter's camp. And it'll be a lot bigger than that blaze bomb, that's for sure!"

Omega grinned, "So I guess that means it's safe for me to kill you, huh? Good, I was looking for someone to vent my anger on!" He took up a battle pose, all too willing to thrash this orange punk. But the kangaroo reploid merely turned away from him, smirking over his shoulder.

"Great, cause I'm feeling as mad as a cut snake too! It's settled, we meet in the badlands over there in an hour!" He pointed ahead of himself, then began bounding off, heading towards somewhere far beyond the edge of the camp.

Don't disappoint me!" His bounds increased in size, allowing him to cover territory quickly. Omega was just about to follow when one of the group of hunters stopped him.

"Don't you realize what you've just done?" she yelled.

"Gotten a chance to have a good brawl, is what!" he snapped.

"A brawl with a former elite hunter! Wallaburn isn't to be taken lightly! He's a psuedoroid capable of powerful gunfire and explosives! You... I've never seen you before! And I know a lot of people around this camp, including all of the strong ones, just so you know. Which means that there's no way you can take him on yourself!" she continued, almost like she was instructing him. Omega was really starting to lose his cool.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN AND CAN'T DO!" he roared. She was left stunned as he gave chase to the kangaroid, leaving the hunters in the dust.

Omega's feet pounded the wasteland, clouds of dust rising up after every step. The afternoon sun beat down mercilessly as he ran, revealing a harsh, desolated landscape, barren of all forms of life. Omega liked it, its familiar forbidding atmosphere reminding him of the good old times, of destroying anything he wanted without a care in the world. Times that, if he played his cards right, would return.

As the afternoon slowly passed, Omega's foul mood dissipated as he eagerly awaited the brawl ahead. If that Wallaburn was so elite, then this would surely be a good fight! He pawed at his sword, always ready at his side.

"Crikey mate! You actually showed up!"Omega snapped out of his thoughts just in time to spot Wallaburn hopping beside him. "You've gotta be built like a brick shit house! You almost outran _me_! Almost," he smiled, "now, we missed our introductions, didn't we, mate? I'm Wallaburn, the kangaroid. And you are?"

"I know your name, Wallaburn, someone back at the camp told me." Omega replied, impatient, "And my name is none of your business, so let's quit the niceties and fight!" He grabbed the handle of his sword, and still running, drew it out so that it created a zephyr of violet light in front of him.

Walaburn cracked his tail, stopping in his tracks, "I was just tryin' ta be polite afore I killed you, mate. Very well then, let's fight!" He snagged a blaze bomb from the tip of his tail, tossing it at Omega.

Omega skidded to a halt, looking back to see where Wallaburn was. The bomb hit him in the chest, blowing up as it did so. He was sent flying, but quickly recovered, landing deftly on his feet.

"Damn it, that's another shirt ruined!" Omega growled. Wallaburn seemed surprised that Omega still stood.

"Crikey, you're still up! But that hit you dead center!" he gaped. He slanted his eyes, any trace of his jovial attitude gone. "Looks like you're stronger than I thought! Take this!" He placed his arm forward, putting his fingers in a triangle. Flames blasted out and Omega jumped back. As an after thought, he threw the paper bag with his clothes in it (he'd somehow kept it with him) to the side, resulting in a strange look from the kangaroid.

"To keep them safe," he explained. Wallaburn snarled.

"Are you even taking me seriously?" He made to use another flamethrower, but was stopped by Omega slashing at him with his sword. A deep gouge appeared in his arm as blood splattered from the wound.

"Yes, I am. That's why I threw my clothes to the side. I'll likely need to change after this." he stated simply. Wallaburn's ears stood straight upright as he grimaced.

"Why you-! You-! How'd you do that? My armor is duratanium! You shouldn't be able to do that!"

Omega didn't answer. Instead, he jumped back, then leaped forward, gaining momentum and slashing Wallaburn across the chest. Wallaburn fell back, his tail supporting his weight. He balanced quickly on his tail, kicking out ferociously at Omega with both feet. His claws gouged six small holes in Omega's gut as he was launched back, landing heavily on the ground. Both combatants got to their feet. Wallaburn clutched his bleeding chest as Omega put a hand on his stomach, feeling the holes. Fortunately, his strong skin had survived most of the attack, and the holes were small. He looked over at Wallaburn, noticing that his damage was worse. The gash was bleeding heavily, so Omega took the opportunity to reroute some of his energy towards healing his wounds. Wallaburn was doing the same.

"I've really come a gutser this time, haven't I?" he coughed. He grabbed two blaze bombs from his tail, one in each hand. A pair of jets on the front of his ankles began glowing. "Looks like I've gotta take you seriously! Here I go, HEAT LAUNCH!" The jets on his ankles blasted out flames, causing Wallaburn to burst forward in a super-powered jump. He brought the bombs in front of him right as he hit Omega, causing an explosion. Wallaburn's heat launch faded as they both tumbled to the ground, charred and damaged. Omega did some rolls before he stopped, surprised by the attack. His first wounds had healed, only to be replaced by numerous burns and bruises. He got up, aching, glancing around for Wallaburn. He was off to the side, struggling to get up.

"Heh... overdid that one..." his chest wound was seared, preventing blood loss. He looked over at Omega, who was preparing one of his own attacks. He slashed at the ground, sending an electric shock wave towards Wallaburn. The kangaroid was brutally electrified as the wave hit, causing many of his systems to overload. Despite Omega sending more shock waves his way, he managed to get to his feet, attempting one last flamethrower. It was futile. Omega's sword slashed at his chest, reopening the wound and slicing him in two.

Wallaburn giggled as the fatal wound spilling circulatory fluids. "Hehehee... You really gobsmacked me there, mate... Guess I get to cark it today, huh?" He was paralyzed, unable to move. His head and upper torso slid away from the rest of his body, gravity tearing apart the line that was Omega's killing blow. Light seeped out from the opening, signaling that the damaged circuits were overheating.

"But don't you worry, we'll meet again!" The light became blinding, and Omega was forced to brace against it as Wallaburn exploded. Heat blasted out and hit Omega, blowing him back a pace. When it was over, Omega looked at the spot where Wallaburn had been. Nothing remained of him except the echo of his final words... and a small, glowing blob of _something _floating towards Omega.

Omega was perplexed. What the heck was it? It looked like data! But what kind of data? As it continued floating towards him, Omega got curious. He decided to reach out his hand. His fingers lightly brushed the data when it was close enough, then everything flashed brilliant white!

_"Program W31L-Obd1 overrided. DNA information acquired. EX skill "Heat Launch" obtained" _droned his CPU. Omega clutched his head as information rained down through his systems, blocking all other thoughts. "What the HELL is going on? What's an EX Skill? ARAAAAAH!" he screamed, the data forcing its way painfully through his mind. He soon got his answers.

_"Data file 1551: EX Skills A. Ex skills are abilities gained from the defeating an enemy and acquiring their data. Data file 1552: Ex Skills B. Obtained EX Skills allow for new combat techniques to be used. Data file 1552: Ex Skill..." _The list went on and on as Omega dropped to his knees, "hearing" every different data file unlock. He groaned each time one of them did. Finally, after what seemed like hours of files racing through his head, they quieted down. He opened his eyes, blinking. The pain was gone, and he felt strange.

"Alright, that's it, I'm getting to the bottom of this." He muttered, shifting into a more comfortable sitting position. He crossed his arms, closed his eyes again, and scanned through his CPU to try and find the files again. It was easy, whatever he wanted access to came to him as simply as a memory.

He read the files, over and over again, until he came to a conclusion. He could learn something called "EX Skills" when he beat an enemy and collected their "data", and these "skills" allowed him to use new attacks like what his enemy had used. Not only that, he apparently already had several of these skills, and he'd just learned a new one. But why hadn't he known about this earlier? He could have become so much stronger!

He reread the first piece of data he'd seen, _"Program W31L-Obd1 overrided". _What did that mean? W31L... Weil... so that madman had something to do with this! But Obd1? What could that imply? It seemed almost like it was some abbreviated word with a number added. Good thing reploids like him could use their CPUs to look at their vocabulary like a dictionary. Omega searched through all the words he knew, narrowing them down until he was left with one likely candidate.

_Obedience, _he realized with a shock. That's what it was all about. Those EX Skills would have made him stronger alright, and Weil knew it. Back then, Omega knew that if he'd known himself, he might have "accidentally" killed some of his training partners to get their skills. And Weil probably thought that Omega would get too strong for him to control! Not only had Weil forcibly programmed Omega to be loyal, the red reploid thought, he added programming to keep me weak enough to use! Use like a puppet!

Omega clawed the ground, rage building. Damn that Weil! What else did that maniac do to him? He stood up, his blood coloured eyes glowing dangerously. Now he knew who his true enemy had been. Even more than Zero (although barely), he now hated Weil. Weil, the evil lord, the bastard that forced him to work like a slave. Omega turned to the skies, bellowing his fury to the heavens in a long, gutteral roar.

The howl faded, no one heard. He collapsed to the ground, exhausted from his battle and the release of his pent up rage. He slowly raised himself off of the dusty ground, looking around for his parcel. Omega got up, walked slowly over to it, picked it up. He started back towards the camp, emotionless. Numb and tired, Omega simply walked, not noticing anything else but fatigue.

X X X X X

Model Z snapped to attention. Aile looked at him, confused.

"I thought I heard something... and felt something. Like that thing on the ship!" he told her, concerned. Aile looked over at a hunter sitting down not far from them, who had just plugged in a lamp.

"Uh, yeah. Hey, it's starting to get late, perhaps we should head back to Legion?" she said hurriedly, grabbing the biometal and jogging towards the door."

"But-!"

"But nothing, we'll figure it out in the morning. I think we're all getting tired and need to have a rest. Now help me find Grey!" she said, letting Model Z go. Model Z stuttered, trying to find a retort, but gave up.

X X X X X

"What do you mean, you let him go!" Diamond yelled. The girl cringed.

"He shouted at me to not tell him what he could and couldn't do! It's not my fault! I warned him that he was weak, but no, he just kept on going!" she complained. She was the same who'd lectured Omega earlier.

"Dang it, he'd better be okay, or else I'll... I'll...!" Opal threatened, raising her fists in front of the woman in a successful effort to scare her.

"That's nothing compared-"

"-To what we'll do!" started the twins. They too were showing signs of barely restrained anger, puffing out their cheeks and waving their arms.

Sapphire shook her head sadly. "I _told _him that it would be dangerous... I'm sorry he didn't listen..." she added quietly, her eyes brimming with tears.

"It's not your fault, Sapphire." Diamond told her. Emerald went over, patting her back reassuringly. Diamond turned to Amethyst. "Hey, think you could go scout things out? Bring Ruby with you, we have no idea how things turned out."

"Not well for the rude one, that's for sure," muttered the girl. Opal heard and delivered a punishing blow to her, causing her to double over.

"No way! He's a lot stronger than you take him for, a fighter to the end! He'll come back, just you wait!"

"You won't have to wait long." Amethyst said. He pointed towards the desert, and the figure emerging from its depths. The gang was elated, but as they were about to run out to him, Emerald grunted. They looked at him. He shook his head.

"What, something wrong?" asked Ruby. Emerald looked back at Omega, and the others did the same.

"He looks different, somehow..." Amethyst noticed. Omega walked into the camp, oblivious to anything else around him. He passed the group about ten feet away, ignoring them and heading towards the hangars.

"At least he seems healthy enough... Maybe he still needs some time on his own?" Ruby wondered. The looks in the other's eyes agreed.

"Then who'll get the bounty?" they looked behind them. The clerk of the job board was trotting up from in the store.

"Bounty? You meant that guy that he followed had a bounty on his head?" Diamond asked. The clerk nodded, bringing out $150.

"Yup, he sure did! And judging by my radar, your buddy's the only one that left that conflict alive... So, do you guys know how to get it to him?" Diamond jumped forward, snatching the money.

"Actually, we're his best friends! And we've lent him some clothes that've gotten wrecked, so he kinda owes us. I don't think he'll mind if we take the money for him, do you?"

The clerk laughed. "No, I suppose not. Very well, I'll see you later, perhaps!" He went back towards his store, rustling through the many pockets on his work apron.

"Okay gang, let's head home." Diamond commanded. He headed back towards their home, and they followed.

X X X X X

Grey was exploring the hangar, looking for any clue as to who owned the ship inside. The ship was fascinating to him, he'd never seen anything like it before! It looked draconian and majestic, sitting there in the hangar. He knew he probably shouldn't have, but when he'd seen it, he'd snuck into the hangar to get a better look. Hey, it's not like Model A told him not to!

"It isn't our fault they left the window open! Practically inviting us in!" he'd said, floating in through the narrow opening and unlocking the door for Grey before he had any say in the matter. Not that he'd minded, the moment he saw the ship, he wanted to know where the person had gotten it from. But despite all his searching, nothing had popped up except a battered, empty wallet and a few droplets of dried blood.

"Weird..." Grey murmured to himself. He went back to the ship for the umpteenth time, delicately touching its hull. "Who owns you, I wonder?" he asked it. It, of course, yielded no answers.

The door to the hangar clattered, and Grey moved just in time as it opened up. He hid under the ship as someone stepped into the hangar. The person stepped forwards from the door, going over to the wallet Grey inspected earlier.

"That's funny, I don't remember putting that there..." he said, his voice tired and worn. Suddenly, the figure stiffened, as if..."

"What the heck are you?" he demanded. Grey peeked out from under the ship just enough to see Model A floating in front of the stranger!

"Model A, get back here!" He yelled, scrambling from under the ship to rescue his biometal. He grasped Model A firmly in his hands, looking warily at the stranger. The stranger crossed his arms, and despite the apparent fatigue in his eyes, looked dangerous. The nasty blemishes across his body, the burns and cuts, did not help this impression.

"What the hell are you doing in my hangar, kid? I thought I locked the door!" he interrogated angrily.

"You forgot the window... Model A got in through there and opened the door. I'm sorry, but when I saw your ship, I couldn't help but come in and look..." he apologized, scuffling his feet.

The man sighed, rubbing his temple. "Great, another fucking problem... Look kid, I'm really feeling tired right now, so just go away, alright? And don't come back, or I'll get really mad." he threatened. Grey took the hint, dashing off with Model A clutched to his chest.

Right as he left the hangar, the door was slammed shut. He looked around for something else to do, his youthful curiosity only piqued. He walked out a few steps from the hangar, hoping for more adventure. What he got was a very cross Aile running towards him from the end of the street.

"Where have you been? I've been worried sick about you! Try not to run off next time, alright? " she scolded. She hugged him at the same time she told him off, then grabbed his hand and started to lead him away from the hangar.

"Are we going somewhere mom?"

"Yes, we are, " she replied, "it's getting late and we're going back to Legion to get some rest. I haven't heard back yet from Vent yet, so I don't know how the ship's doing. I talked to Legion and they were alright with it, just in case you were wondering."

"Okay, thanks mom..." he said. They walked for a while, then Grey piped up. "Hey mom, I heard a funny word today. Do you know what it means?"

"Maybe. What's the word?"

"Fuck, I think."

Aile blushed a deep crimson as they continued down the road.

* * *

SubZeroChimera- _holds up billboard_

_In order of appearance:_

_Date-arse hole, ie "get off your fat date"_

_Crikey-term used to express emotion, no real meaning_

_Cobber-friend_

_Figjam-__**F**__*ck __**I**__'m __**g**__ood, __**j**__ust __**a**__sk __**m**__e, nickname for people who have a high opinion of themselves_

_ankle biter-small child_

_boomer-large male kangaroo_

_Blue-fight_

_as mad as a cut snake-very angry_

_Mate-buddy, friend_

_built like a brick shit house-big strong bloke/person_

_Come a gutser-make a bad mistake, have an accident_

_gobsmacked-surprised, astounded_

_cark it-to die, cease functioning_

Omega- "You really need a job."

SubZeroChimera- "Shut up."


	11. The ruins of mega man

Disclaimer- Plug is mine. The rest you should know by now.

**Important, read:** Dear readers, just a heads up. I am NOT familiar with the names of the EX skills that Omega already has (ie the rolling slash that sends out the ice energy). So, because of that, I will be coming up with my own little "nicknames" for them (such as Frost Wave for the aforementioned skill). I'll tell you whenever/whatever they are if I use them. Such as Frost Wave, which will be used here today.

SubZeroChimera- "Hey everybody! Merry (belated) Christmas to you all! And for those of you who don't celebrate good ole Xmas, then happy Hanukkah, holidays, etc. An extra long chapter of HA for you!

Omega- "Uh, don't listen to her, folks. She's just making up for you having to wait so long because of her laziness."

SubZeroChimera- "Hey, shut up for once, why don't ya? I can still put you in that "Christmas costume", you know!"

Omega- "Yes mam..."

SubZeroChimera- "Alright, then! Enjoy your Christmas present, everyone!"

* * *

Omega shifted against the aircraft's leg. Morning light seeped in through the hangar's window, causing the ship to glow gold and crimson. He moved his fingers against the cold floor of the hangar, grit scratching against them as he changed into a more comfortable position. A bright ray struck his eyes. Omega blinked, turning away from the invasive light. It didn't go away, so Omega yawned, resigning himself to waking up. His stiff body gave a twang of stretchy pain in protest, but only for a second.

Placing his palms firmly against the floor, Omega raised himself off of it. He arched his back, stretching it, then stood up. Giving his legs a shake, he took a mental note to bring a pillow the next time he decided to sleep in the hangar. That was one nasty floor...

Omega went over to the window, making sure that it was securely closed and locked this time. Looking up, he saw that a torn gray curtain hung flimsily around a steel rod above the glass. Omega gently let the curtain down, blocking out the light entering the hangar. The hangar, having had its single light source blocked out, darkened considerably. As he went over to the door, he began pondering the recent events. There were many things beginning to nag at his mind, such as yesterday's interaction with the "Model A", along with whatever the "Ouroboros incident" the landlord had talked about was. Not to mention his new EX Skill.

He reached the door, stopping to consider some options about his predicament. He concluded that he should deal with the EX Skill first. Omega bolted the door shut. He learned best by experience, so why not? Checking to make sure no one could see into the hangar, he activated the EX Skill. A short descriptive warning of the ability rang through his head. "_EX Skill: Heat Launch. Charged jump allowing for quick propulsion._"

As Omega charged the jump, he could feel the anklet around his heels expand slightly. The dash boosters contained within began to glow, and when he felt the stored energy reach its peak, he released it in a fiery blast.

The resounding _CLANG _was heard throughout hunter's camp, causing all to wince. Omega fell straight back to the charred ground, unable to react properly due to the fact that his head just made a rather large dent in the ceiling of the hangar. _Despite _it being over two stories tall.

Getting up while rubbing his sore posterior and head, he managed to walk haltingly back to the ship. As he fell, somewhat controlled, Omega decided that his ponderings could wait. He fell asleep almost instantly.

X X X X X

Vent wiped his hands on an oily rag, sighing as he looked up towards the once-proud ship. The Grand Nuage sat horrifically broken in the repair bay, rends in her outer armor revealing a damaged interior, the after-effects of being rammed full speed into the demonic Ouroboros. "Man, these repairs are taking forever..." he groaned, depressed at her condition.

"Hey, at least you can repair it!"

Vent looked over at the gray haired girl, shaking his head, "True, true... I suppose that's better than not having a ship at all. Although, the problem now becomes if we'll even be able to afford a new power core, armor, weapons..."

"You worry too much, Vent," she waggled her finger, "It'll be okay, alright? Tell you what, I'll go to Legion and ask if they can help out." She jumped down from her perch on a nearby crate, landing neatly in front of the grease-covered Mega man. Vent scratched at his hair in exasperation, serving only to further spread the grime.

"Ashe, Legion has enough problems to deal with without us adding another one. I mean, one of their own just went maverick on them, so they'll be hard pressed to smooth over relations with all of the different countries, and let's not forget-"

"Screw that! You sacrificed your base to get me and Grey on board the Ouroboros, the least Legion can do is help you repair it! That's why _I've _been helping! So just leave it to me, I'll get 'em to help!" She dashed off, leaving Vent no time to object.

He scratched his hair again, turning back to the ship. "Oh well, it _would _help out with fixing up the Nuage..." as he turned, he saw his reflection in a wayward mirror. Vent grimaced at his appearance. He was covered with muck, not to mention that a patch of his hair was now black and stood up at an odd angle.

"Really have to stop that habit of mine," he grumbled, moving off to help work at another part of the ship.

X X X

The sound of the teleporter faded, leaving Ashe standing on a circular terminal. An operator on a computer typed in some unknown codes, then turned to Ashe. "Welcome to Legion. Please step off the teleporter and move to the next room," he said in a monotone voice. A door shot open to Ashe's right, so she jumped off the machine and followed the light coming from outside.

She found herself on an elevator. The door closed behind her as the elevator started to move upwards. A minute later, it opened to a lobby. She stepped out of the elevator and it left to gather more visitors to Legion.

Ashe strutted towards a large, curving desk, hailing the receptionist behind it. "Oi, is this where I get service around here?" she placed her hand on the counter expectantly.

The receptionist jumped, startled at the identity of the one addressing her, "Miss Ashe! How may I be of service to you?"

"Relax, I just came here to ask for some help concerning one of my friend's ships. You know, the only one that was functioning properly when Ouroboros lifted off the ground. My buddy's having a bit of a problem footing the repair bill by himself, so we just wanted to get a loan or something."

The receptionist nodded, giving Ashe a nervous smile, "Yes, I see why you'd be needing help. After what I heard had happened, I can imagine the bill would be quite salty." Ashe gave her one of her trademark grins in return.

"You don't know the half of it."

The receptionist ran her fingers along the touch-pad keyboard, swiftly entering Ashe's request. "It'll take a little while for it to be examined, so if it's alright, can you come back tomorrow and check up on it?"

"Eh, sure, whatever," Ashe waved, heading back towards the elevator. The receptionist gave her an admiring glance as the elevator reappeared and Ashe went inside. The mega man smirked when the doors shut. Heh, being a mega man and saving the world certainly got you respect...

The elevator headed down. Ashe brought out a communicator from her pocket, typing in Vent's number. He appeared on the screen moments later.

"Hey Ashe, how'd it go?"

"It's gonna take a day for them to sort it out."

"Ah, okay, thanks a tonne. Hey Ashe, think you could do me another favor?"

Ashe gave him an interested look, "Favor? Sure! What kind?"

"Well, we just ran out of T-31 bolts, but they're really expensive, so we can't afford them right now. I hate to ask you to do this, but would you mind doing a mission or two so we can get the money to afford them? We can order them from here, but as I said before, we don't have the money..."

"Oh, I don't know..." she coyly replied, "I've been helping out so long in that stuffed, cramped up repair bay, and getting a mission would mean that I'd have to go out and have some fun blasting stuff-"

"Oh, gerroff and find a mission already!" he laughed.

"Sure, aye aye, boss!" she saluted jokingly. "I just have to go find Grey and get Model A off him first, alright? Any idea where he might be?"

"He's in Hunters Camp with Aile." Ashe peered at him questioningly, so Vent continued, "she called me earlier today since I wasn't calling her. Heh, with all the work around here, I forgot to tell her how the Grand Nuage was doing," he said, scratching his hair again.

"Lemme guess, she chewed you up for it."

"Like a dog with a dinosaur bone."

Ashe giggled, "That's our Aile! See you later then, Vent!"

"Later!"

She turned off the communicator, putting it back in her pocket. When the elevator's door opened and she stepped out, she turned to the operator. "Hey, could you put me through to the Hunters Camp?"

"Yes, certainly. Please step on the teleporter and I'll send you on your way."

"Thanks!" Ashe did as she was told. Soon enough, she was in Hunters Camp, the familiar dusty smell surrounding her. She took a deep, relaxed breath.

"Aah, it's good to be back. Well, down to business!" She shot out of the teleporter room, waving to some of the hunters as she passed.

X X X X X

Prometheus stood with a guilty look on his face, avoiding Pandora's gaze. She'd just finished telling him of what had transpired yesterday. They walked down the main drag of the camp, no longer enjoying the many small and interesting aspects of it.

"Sis, I'm sorry, I didn't know, if you'd just called me-!"

"Brother, I couldn't have if I'd wanted to. You know our reputation. If I went hollering our names everywhere, people would hear! And we're not who we used to be, it'd put the both of us in danger!" Pandora explained.

He frowned, "I guess we need to come up with a way to contact each other without tipping others off, then... But how are we going to do that?"

The pair fell silent, considering their options. Pandora turned to her brother. "I'm not sure, but I'm positive we'll figure it out somehow. For now, we should try and enjoy ourselves. What's past is past, so let's learn from it and move on."

"Great idea!" Prometheus grinned, patting his sister on her back. "We'll just have to avoid calling each other's name. And I won't run off again, promise!" he concluded. From the tone of his last sentence, Pandora could tell that he was being serious, even if no one else could. Suddenly he stopped, rubbing his chin. "Hey sis, I just had a thought..."

"Did it hurt?"

"Ha ha, very funny, sis," he growled, casting an annoyed glance her way, "as I was saying before you so rudely interrupted, I think we should go properly thank that guy who saved you."

Pandora's cheeks turned pink almost instantly, and she shuffled her feet, embarrassed. "No, no, it's okay, I thanked him already-"

"I know _you _did, but _I _didn't! Besides, I'd like to see him! After all, any guy who can make, of all people, my _sister _blush, then he's gotta be pretty neat. Unless you're _afraid_..."

"I am _not _afraid, I just... just... uh..." she retorted nervously. Prometheus's face broke into a wide smile.

"You wouldn't happen to have a crush on him, would you?"

"No! I don't have a crush on him! Who said I did? I know he's cute, but-!"

"Gwah ha ha! Knew it! You like him! C'mon then, let's go find him!" he took her hand and dashed of further into the camp, dragging along a _very _red-faced Pandora behind him. The two (or more accurately, Prometheus) kept going through Hunters Camp, asking whoever they could about the whereabouts of the strange reploid, but few had even heard of him, much less seen him. Only after a long time of searching did they come across anyone who knew about him.

"Oh yeah, I heard of him. Yelled at one of my buddies and tore outta camp looking for a fight, I think. Maybe you should go look at the job board?"

"Thanks man!" Prometheus returned, changing direction and running towards the board. By now, Pandora had given up on resisting and ran along beside him. About halfway there, they nearly ran into someone.

"Whoa, sorry- Grey? What're you doing here?"

The young reploid in question smiled at him, "Just exploring some more around camp, really. Aile was talking with Vent earlier, so she said I could go have some fun."

Prometheus crossed his arms, giving Grey a strange look, "Since when did you start obeying her?"

"Since I adopted her as my mom! You-know-who was technically my dad, but he's gone now, so I wanted to find someone who could help take care of me! I know I'm a mega man, but I'm still kinda young..."

The two siblings nodded in understanding. Pandora giggled slightly. "Since Albert was technically our dad as well, that means you're our brother, right? So do you think that makes Aile our mom too?"

Prometheus looked comically aghast, "What? No, perish the thought! We're a lot older than her!" his grin faded to be replaced by a look of confusion, "Wait, if we're so much older than her, does that make us the grandparents or something?"

"So you guys are my siblings and my grandparents at the same time? That doesn't make sense..." Grey mumbled, clearly frazzled. Pandora laughed as her brother tried to explain to him.

"No kid, we're just buggin' you, don't worry about it. We're sibs and that's that, okay?" Grey seemed to take this explanation, even if he was still a bit confused.

"M'kay..."

"There you are!" Ashe appeared out of nowhere, panting. "I've been looking all over Hunters Camp for you! I need to borrow Model A for now, all right? Oh, hello!" she turned to Pandora and Prometheus, only just noticing them. Squinting her eyes she asked, "Have we met before?"

"You have, believe or not." Grey said. "Remember what I told you when I phoned you? It's-"

"We'd prefer you not say our names in public, Grey. Sorry, but you've gotta remember that we have a bad reputation." Prometheus intervened. Ashe blinked at them for a second, then opened her mouth in a little 'O'. She then shook her head up and down in acknowledgment of who they were.

"So how's the new life been treating you so far? Enjoying the freedom?"

"You bet! There's still some stuff we have to get used to, but we're having fun for the most part. Actually, we were looking for someone up until we met Grey here. He's got long white hair and he's pretty tough looking, from what sis has said. Have you seen him?"

"I might have, yesterday! He was in a hangar with a cool looking ship, but he got really mad when he found out I was looking at it. Isn't that right, Model A?" Grey fished around in his pocket, bringing out the tricky little biometal.

"You bet! And he _was _quite rough-looking, wasn't he? Jerk didn't know who he was dealing with! Since you guys are looking for him, how about we go back to that hangar, Grey? I wanna give him a piece of my mind!" It shouted, floating away.

"Hey, wait up!" Ashe yelled after it. She ran after Model A, the others following suite.

X X X X X

Omega woke up to pounding. Was it his skull? Or was it the hangar? Whatever the source, it annoyed him and hurt his head. He yelled angrily at it.

"Stop that and leave me alone! Go away!" The effort cost him. A fresh crack of pain seared his mind, causing him to flinch. He routed his energy to fix whatever was going on in his skull, and his headache cleared up quickly. Another round of banging came from the outside of the hangar.

"We know you're in there, mister! Can you open up, please?" a voice rang out. Omega recognized it immediately.

"I thought I told you to scram, kid! Now beat it before I beat you!" he roared. He was surprised to hear a female voice respond.

"Watch who you're threatening! We're the Model A mega men, and we won't ask you again! Open up your hangar, or else!"

"Fine fine, just shut up and give me a minute, alright?" Omega decided to do as they asked. The way the female voice had said "mega men" made it seem that they were something to be feared, so he'd play along for now. He went over, picking up his parcel from yesterday. One quick change later, he went and unbolted the door to the hangar.

Four people stepped inside. He recognized one pair of them as the girl and her brother that he'd seen at the market. The other pair was the nosy gray-haired boy and another girl with a similar hair colour.

"What do you want?" he snapped. The second girl stepped inside like she owned the place. Something that rubbed Omega the wrong way, "I'm busy, so make it quick."

"I'll take as much time as I want, thank you. And don't you know who you're talking to?" she demanded, stopping in front of Omega and attempting to stare him down. Which was hard to do, considering that he was taller than her.

"Don't know, don't care, so buzz off as soon as you tell me why you're invading my personal space!" he snarled, stretching up to his full height and crossing his arms.

"Well, I was just tagging along with some of my friends who wanted to visit you, if you must know." she replied nonchalantly. Then she did a double take. "WHAT? Did you say you _don't know who I am_!"

"That's exactly what I said," Omega sneered, "And I already saw these friends of yours yesterday. The one thanked me for saving her, even though I really didn't care a hoot about her. I explained to her already, I didn't beat that guy for her, I did it because he was an idiot. And quite frankly, you too are being an idiot. So leave now or regret it!"

The girl shook with anger. "Me, regret it! You've just insulted me! You're the one who's going to regret it!"

"Please Ashe, calm down!" the gray haired boy came forward, but to no avail.

"Leave me alone, Grey. C'mon Model A, let's show this one what a mega man is!" She grabbed the floating object beside her, yelling. "MEGAMERGE!"

A bright flash of white later, she stood ready. She brought out two guns, brandishing them in a daredevil manner. The Model A mega man stood in all her glory, smirking. _Who wouldn't be impressed by this show of power? _she thought.

Ashe got her answer. Omega didn't bat an eyelid when he saw her in her transformed state. "Whoop de frickin' doo, you can quick change in public. Now would you get out of my hangar already?"

Ashe gaped, completely taken back by Omega's (under)reaction. "But... Ooh, I'll show you! This isn't all I can do! C'mon, A-TRANS!" she roared, and after another flash of white, a red deer psuedoroid stood in front of Omega.

"See? I can transform into whatever enemy I've defeated!" She changed back, smiling victoriously.

Omega had to admit that it was impressive, although he certainly didn't show it. "_something I'll have to watch out for,_" he thought. On the outside, he yawned, walking past Ashe and pointing to the door, "So you're a copycat, too. Wonderful, but you're _really _trying my patience, so get out. I intend to get a mission later, so I need you children to leave so that I can lock up, kapeesh?"

Ashe was shocked. All that and he hadn't even flinched! And he'd called her a "child", too! She growled, this wasn't over, not by a long shot! "So you're getting a mission later, huh? I'll tell you what, I need to get one too, so let's make a bet out of this! We'll do the same mission, and whoever completes it first gets the payout from the mission!"

Omega frowned. "I'd rather not-"

"HAH! I knew it! You're all bark and no bite!" Ashe scoffed.

"As I was saying, I'd rather not do that because I'd have to show you my "methods"... which I highly doubt you'll be able to stomach. You're nothing more than a weak, annoying pestilence, all of you are in fact, so get out now before I get serious and kill you," Omega threatened. Prometheus stomped forwards, shoving his face into Omega's.

"Did you just call us all "weak, annoying pestilences"? I'm warning you, don't underestimate us! Especially now that you've insulted me, and more importantly, _my sister_! No one gets away with that, no matter who they are!" He pushed Omega backwards. Caught by surprise, Omega stumbled. Prometheus continued his verbal assault, "You don't know who you're dealing with! And just be glad I can't tell you!"

"No, _you _don't know who you're dealing with," Omega moved back into his previous position, his voice menacingly calm, "and _you're _the one who should be glad that I can't tell you who I am. My secret is a deadly one, and if necessary, I'm not afraid to use it!" Omega snarled, revealing his large canines, and his eyes glinted murderously. "I'll admit, I'm impressed by your bravery. You're the only one here who has acted physically aggressively towards me, but _don't _let it happen again, got it?"

Prometheus backed up. Something in those eyes frightened him, and yet... was so familiar...? Ashe stepped forward, putting herself between the two men.

"Come on then, mister "I'm so dangerous", if you're so good, then prove it!"

"I think I will," he replied. "So go on, I still have to close up. Go and pick a mission, I'll be right behind you!"

The group filed out of the hangar, and true to his word, he closed and locked the hangar behind him. Omega gave a short, mocking bow to Ashe. "After you." he pointed down the road, towards the job boards. Ashe nodded stiffly, and they both started off. Pandora, Prometheus and Grey stayed behind, watching them leave.

"I guess I'd better go find mom now," Grey said when the two were out of site. He left in the opposite direction, leaving his siblings alone by themselves. Pandora stared after him for a minute, then turned to her brother.

"I'm sorry, this is my fault..."

"No it isn't, sis... That's just how he is, I guess. But something about him... I think he really _is _hiding something." he frowned, "I mean, did you see the look in his eyes? It seemed a bit scary, yet sorta familiar for some reason."

"I think I know why..." she responded. Prometheus looked at her strangely, but let her continue, "because I've seen that look before. In _our _eyes..."

"What are you saying?" he asked.

"Hatred... and distrust towards everything. We had that look in our eyes because of what Albert did to us... But now that he's gone, we don't need to worry about thing like that, so that feeling is gone."

Prometheus's eyes glazed over in thought, "But what could he have possibly gone through to be like that?"

"I don't know... but I intend to find out."

Prometheus jumped, astonished at his sister. "What? After what he did to you, to _us_!"

"Just think about it for a moment, brother! We've always been alone, since no one else could possibly know how we felt. Used and abandoned... But if that's how _he _feels, then maybe we aren't alone! Besides, would you really want to let someone go through what we did? We always had each other, but he doesn't seem to have anyone... perhaps we should give him another chance. That's what we got, and look how happy we are now."

Prometheus smiled, "Sis, you were always the thinker. Alright, another chance for him it is. Besides, if he _i__s _hiding something, it might be interesting to find out what! So let's just go have some fun for now, and maybe ask around to see if anyone knows anything about him, 'kay?"

"'Kay."

The sun hit its zenith as they walked down the same direction as Grey, intent on enjoying the rest of the day.

X X X X X

"How is your research going, Alfredo?"

Scimitar strode regally into the room. He wore entirely different clothes than when Omega saw him. After all the money they'd made, he and the crew, along with their ships and everything else, had gotten a makeover.

"So-so. The data is mostly corrupted, and what can be salvaged is encrypted. Damn good thing the first data we found wasn't. But apart from that, nothing new, really. How goes your investments?"

"Wonderfully. The money is really flowing in, and production has started."

"Exceptional! I will call you when I get something else."

"Thank you. Now, I have a meeting I must attend, so the best of luck to you." He exited the room, leaving the scientist to his own work. And a lot of work at that.

X X X X X

Back at Hunters Camp, things were heating up.

"This one!" Ashe shoved the piece of paper in Omega's face triumphantly. Omega barely noticed. He was leaning against the wall of the building, watching with mild interest the mega man dash about looking for the hardest possible mission.

"If that's what you'd like," he yawned, quite unfazed by the whole affair. To be frank, he was getting bored, but the girl needed to learn a lesson in humility. If only she would settle on a bloody mission already!

"No, you're right, I don't want it! Too easy! Oi, got any S-rank missions?" she yelled at the man operating the board. He scrambled behind the counter, doing his best to comply with the mega man's orders. He turned to a chute beside him as some sort of request blasted down from it. Reading it through quickly, he sighed in relief, handing it over to Ashe.

"Yes mam, just got one in. It seems to be from Legion-"

"Great, Legion usually has some good ones!" she snatched it as soon as it was within reach, swiftly glancing over its contents, "oh, it's a good one, alright! There's some sort of disturbance in a restricted area, and they want it investigated. Something about a ravaged power plant by some old ruins... bleh, who cares about that! This is the one! C'mon you, let's get going!" Ashe tossed the paper at Omega, dashing out the door. "The race is on!"

Omega read through the mission, careful not to miss anything. And he was very glad he did. Smirking, he settled himself against the wall in a more relaxed position, waiting for Ashe to return. She did after about five minutes, looking angry and flustered. Omega displayed the paper, pointing at the last line.

"_Also, the teleportation circuit in the area is knocked out, be advised that you will need to fly there_." he scorned, reveling in the nasty look he received from her.

"You shut up. I don't see _you _doing anything to get there," she shot.

"Of course not, I needed to rub this in your face first. That, and I'll admit, I don't know what direction Area Y-5 is in. I could make you a deal, if you want. You tell me where to go, and I'll fly you there. Sound fair?"

Ashe crossed her arms, peering suspiciously at him."Yeah, sure, let's do that. But why the heck would yo want to be fair? I highly doubt you'll be able to beat me if you keep that up."

Omega gave her a mysterious smile, confident yet concealing, "Don't worry, you'll see soon enough..."

He ambled off towards the door, and Ashe followed. One brisk walk later found them back at the hangars. They headed towards his, Omega reaching inside his pocket and fumbling for the keys. He opened the main garage door in the back of the hangar, then brought out the keys, pressing a button to open the aircraft's hatch. He jumped in, but as Ashe prepared to do the same, he stopped her.

"Whoa, wait a minute. I've got a password to punch in here first."

"And how long will that take?" she asked, disgruntled at being told to wait. The ship thrummed into life, roaring gently as its systems turned on.

"Not long," he grinned. Ashe rolled her eyes, leaping up behind him into the passenger's seat. She lowered herself into it, giving the interior an admiring glance.

"Where'd you get the ship? Hate to admit it, but it's a beaut."

Omega pressed a few more controls, turning slightly to the girl behind him, "I'd rather not say. But if you must know, well... let's just say I got it for completing a mission."

"You're not telling me the whole truth, are you?"

"Nope."

"Figures," she sighed. Shifting in her seat, she put on her seatbelt as Omega steered out the door and onto a runway that ran behind the row of hangars. As he taxied around to position the ship properly on the takeoff strip, Ashe chided him.

"You know, you really should check in with the air control tower."

"Like I need to. No one else is here. But if you insist," he grabbed the radio on the console, passing it back to her, "then you can do it."

Ashe snorted derisively, but took the radio. After a short conversation with the tower, they got the go-ahead. Omega started up the boosters, and they rocketed forwards. About halfway down the runway, Omega pushed the launch button. The landing gears shortened, then quickly reverted to their full height, springing the ship into the air. Ashe was taken by surprise and fell further into her seat with a yelp.

"You could have warned me that this was a jump jet!"

"I didn't know that there was any other kind." Omega replied.

She sat up, frowning, "How could you not? Jump jets are the most expensive! Didn't the guy that gave you this tell you that?"

"I said I got this for completing a mission, I didn't say it was given to me. I took it off the raiders-"

"Raiders? You stole from raiders! You idiot, are you trying to get yourself killed!"

"Relax, they won't be after me anytime soon, trust me." he waved. "Now, which direction are we going?"

"That way," she pointed at somewhere to the front and left of the ship, "and just what do you mean, _trust me_?"

"Exactly what I said. But don't bother asking me anything else about it, 'cause I won't tell you," he said.

"Bloody money grubbers..." she grumbled, "alright, I won't ask you about that. Instead, I'd like to know where you came from."

"Mercenary, not money grubber. And I came from the desert."

She gave him a confused look. "Desert? Why there?"

"I was a hermit until recently. Hey, what's that down there?" he pointed down at a green blob on the horizon, which soon began to grow in size.

"That's our stop," she responded. "Looks like you'll have to park on the outskirts."

"Fair enough, prepare for landing." He lowered the ship's altitude and speed. As they came to the forest's borders, he brought the ship into a hover, then lightly set it down. Omega shut down the engines, opening the hatch to let Ashe out. After getting out himself, he shut the hatch and locked it.

"Prepare for landing? Geeze, you're as bad as Siarnaq," she complained. Stretching herself out, she megamerged, and after that, she began trotting towards the forest.

"Who's Siarnaq?" asked Omega.

"Another mega man like me, only he's got the Model P. He's a ninja and acts all mechanical and mysterious, but that's his gig, I suppose. Ah well, follow me." she gestured for Omega to follow her.

Omega had a quick flashback about Phantom, the guardian of shadows. "No way it could be him..." he muttered worriedly to himself. It took him a second to realize that Ashe had left him behind, so he ran in the direction she'd taken, determined not to lose their competition.

The forest was dark and thick. Twisted and mangled vines covered every surface not concealed by gnarled bark, serrated leaves, or scuttling, shadowy creatures. Moss covered rocks and jagged ferns littered the ground, along with the occasional felled log. There were many different shades of grimy green and olive, further broadcasting the sinister atmosphere of the verdance. Because of the thick branches and foliage overhead, little sun shone through to the forest floor.

Omega couldn't have cared less about the scenery. The only thing he noticed about it was that it was filled with hiding spots for anyone who may have decided to track them. He kept a close watch on the forest, seemingly calm, yet poised to strike at a moments notice. Nary a sound or movement escaped his notice. No matter what came, he would be ready for it, _was _read for it. Ashe, on the other hand...

"Fuck! Goddamn vines! Why I don't just- EEK!" she fell flat on her face, her foot stuck in the coil of a protruding root. She picked herself up, wiping mud and moss off of her face, and complaining rather loudly, "Bloody hell, why did you have to pick this mission? Of all the rotten places to go, you just _had _to choose the one that'd get us stuck in a filthy-"

_TWANG_! Before she could say another word, she stepped on a trap. A rope noose tightened around her ankle, hoisting her high into a tree as it sprang. The tree showered leaves on her. Had it been his style to, Omega would have been rolling around on the forest floor, laughing his extremities off. As it was, he could barely hold back his guffaws. Ashe hung upside down, blood quickly rushing to her head, and more obviously, her face.

"Stop that! It's not funny!" she barked.

"On the contrary," Omega replied, "it's quite hilarious!" He smiled at his own joke, further angering the mega man. Because of all of her falls, she was covered with mud, and her condition was only worsened by the leaves that were scattered from the tree. The majority of the leaves had landed on her, sticking to the mud. The result...

"What's the matter, someone ruffle your feathers, Ashe?" Omega scoffed as she tried to get free. She twisted to face him, giving him a look that could freeze hell.

"You shut your trap!"

"Why? You seem to be having so much fun with the one you just triggered!" he smirked.

"Ha ha, very funny," she shot back sarcastically.

Omega shrugged, "Hmm, oh well. It's a shame a poor _chick _like you can't take a joke."

"That's it! As soon as I get down there, you're dead meat, buddy! Your goose'll be cooked so fast-!"

"Oh, so you _can _take a joke!"

"GAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" she screamed in frustration, flaying her arms in an attempt to get her hands around his throat. He stayed just beyond her reach, taunting her. Soon enough, she tired out, letting herself go limp.

"All better now?"

"Fuck off."

"Nah, we still have a competition to finish. Then again, maybe I _should _go ahead and leave you here! It'll make my life a _lot _easier!" Omega chuckled. He turned to leave, but stopped at the sound of a gunshot. Looking over his shoulder, he saw that Ashe had blasted the rope tying her to the tree. She caught up with him, scolding.

"No way, not gonna get rid of me that easily!"

"Eh, was worth a try." he replied. They kept walking. Ashe was taking a lot more care in where she put her foot, watching for any telltale signs of trouble. Time passed slowly as shadows grew longer. About an hour later, the forest began thinning out, and signs of an ancient civilization poked through.

Omega jerked, perking his hearing sensors. The cheerful sound of a flute seemed to weave its way through the foliage, changing the forest's atmosphere from one of gloom to playfulness. Ashe stopped, glancing back at Omega.

"What's wrong?"

He stayed silent as the flute kept playing, assuring himself he wasn't imagining things. Then he spoke. "Don't you hear that?"

"Hear what?" The pair stood absolutely still, Ashe giving him a strange look, "I don't hear anything," she said. Then the flute hit one clear, high note, and her eyes opened wide. "Oh, now I hear it! C'mon, let's go find it!"

They followed the sound of the innocently twittering flute, Omega in the lead. His keen senses picked up the noise far better than Ashe's did, but soon enough, even she could pick it up. They ran until they hit a clearing with a huge stone temple. The temple was built a long time ago, judging by the worn rock, but signs of more recent remodeling were there too. Parts of the stone, worn away by time, revealed tangled wires and glowing electronics inside. And yet, even the technology wasn't safe from weathering, as some of it was broken and falling apart. Suddenly, a small shadow darted into the temple, too quick for Omega to discern its identity.

"Heh, looks like we've found whoever knocked out the teleportation circuit," Ashe grinned. She dashed forwards while Omega followed, past the clearing and into the forbidding mouth of the temple.

It took about one minute for them to spring the first booby trap. Ashe, ahead of Omega, stepped on a strange floor panel, causing it to sink. Noticing this, they both ducked, just in time to avoid the darts firing out of the walls. Ashe laughed nervously as they got back up.

"Aheheheh, I don't think the people who built this temple liked visitors..."

"No shit!" he roared.

Having lost the elusive shadow, the two decided wordlessly to follow its tracks, and carefully, too. Numerous spike pits, lance holes, etc were avoided because of this as they continued along the long, winding passageways, down stairs plummeting to the bowels of the earth, and past foreboding statues and ancient texts. Being several centuries old, Omega was programmed to know the old languages, and whenever his eye caught a warning in the stone walls, he hinted to Ashe that they may want to be more cautious (not revealing his talent, of course). Then the tunnel came to an abrupt end.

They were in a room, not very wide or long, but extremely tall. Ashe whistled as she looked up a sheer wall, to smooth to climb. "Looks like it's a dead end... for you. See that up there?" she pointed up to the top of the wall in front of them. It was more of a cliff than a wall, as there was a ledge at its peak, and beyond the ledge there seemed to be a dark tunnel. "I'll bet you anything that leads somewhere. Well, this is where we part!" she yelled triumphantly. One A-trans later, a fiery red Bee was flying up towards the ledge, then over. The sound of another transformation rang from beyond the ledge, and Ashe began giggling to herself.

"Looks like I won our little bet! See you around!" she called. Omega didn't respond. Instead, he began charging his heat launch. After a quick check to see that the ceiling was high enough, he discharged the energy, leaving scorch marks in the floor below. His bound brought him to the same height of the ledge, and one double jump later, onto the ledge. Ashe was still chortling to herself, walking away from him. She hadn't realized that he'd managed to get up onto the ledge. Omega smirked, placing his hands on his hips.

"You know, it's a lot easier to "_see someone around_" if you look in the right direction."

Ashe stopped dead, screwing her head around slowly to face him. It was clear from the flabbergasted look on her face that she hadn't expected him to be able to do that.

"What... how did you...?"

"That's my little secret, although, you would've known how I did it if you'd only been watching," he said, wagging his finger. He strode past her confidently, leaving her behind. She shook her head vigorously, then caught up.

"Look, there's no way a normal person could have gotten up here that fast. And buddy, when all this is over, you are going to tell me just who the hell you are!" she exclaimed. Omega ignored her, continuing to walk down the passageway. Ashe shook her head in annoyance at being ignored, then ran towards him. He stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway, and she barely avoided bumping into him.

"Looks like we'll have to split after all," Omega pointed out. The hallway forked into two separate paths, apparently leading in opposite directions. Ashe stepped towards the right passageway.

"Fair enough. This one's mine!" she almost flew down the path, running at a high speed. Omega watched her leave for a while. Mega men... as much as he hated to admit it, he'd have to do research on them later. Especially since he'd just revealed a portion of his powers to one.

He was jolted back to reality by the sound of the flute. It slunk softly from the path opposite of Ashe's, inviting him to come find its source. Omega obliged. He followed the cheerful sound down his hallway, through a labyrinth of walls, dead ends and traps. Not only that, the source seemed to move, often leading him towards mechanisms designed to maim or kill those unfortunate enough to not notice them. After half an hour of trekking around the barely lit maze, Omega began to lose his temper.

"Damnit, whoever is playing that stupid flute had better come out now, or you'll regret it! Quite being a cowardly will-of-the-wisp and fight!"

"Oi, no one calls me a coward! And my flute isn't stupid, either!"

Omega stopped at the voice. It was high pitched, like a kid... on helium. Oh, this was going to be a headache.

"I might be less inclined to call you a coward if you weren't one! Show yourself!" he yelled. He dodged just in time as a small, yellow object hurtled towards him from on top of some thick wires hanging from the ceiling. It picked itself up in an indignant manner, bringing itself to it's full height. Which wasn't much. Even with its tall, thin ears, it barely measured up to Omega's chin. It had more projections, similar in shape to its ears, coming out of its back and tail area. The torso and waist were angular, and it's feet were spikes. Everything else seemed fairly plain, except for the green stripes curving from either side of its chin and up to the forehead, merging with a small gem above its slanted, cute eyes. Drawing its hand up in a (what it thought to be) dramatic gesture, it pointed a simple flute (one chambered with a stripe running around the ends) at him.

"Hah, me, regret it! You've underestimated me already! I'm the electric haroid, Plug! And no one calls me a coward twice and lives to tell about it!"

"How wonderful, a drugged up bunny rabbit trying to scare me," he replied.

Plug's ears stood up straight on end, "Bunny rabbit? _BUNNY RABBIT_? How dare you! I'm a hare, not a bunny! Why else do you think I'm called a haroid? Hare. Roid. Not that hard if you practice it, mister!"

"Eh, whatever," Omega waved, "let's cut to the chase and fight, alright? I'm getting bored of this chatter." He gripped the handle of his sword, motioning for Plug to fight with him.

"What? You're not going to ask me why I'm here first?" Plug questioned.

"No, why? Is it standard procedure or something?"

"Well, no, but doesn't the hero usually ask first, then shoot?"

Omega laughed mirthlessly, "Buddy, I'm the farthest thing from a hero that you'll ever find."

"Oh, really? That's good, maybe we can work together! Ya see, I got commissioned by someone who's getting paid to do some building, but they were runnin' out of energy, so they wanted to find somewhere discreet to steal power from. So I came here, and low and behold, I found a power plant! So-"

"Just shut up and fight already! I don't give a damn about your life's story!" Omega shouted. He drew out his saber. Plug smirked, his nose twitching.

"Hey, fair enough! I was hoping for a fight anyways! I just want to ask you something first, though."

Omega rolled his eyes, "Make it quick."

"Why is your energy signature so strange? I'm pretty good at detecting energy, it's what I was built for, but yours seems so weird! Not even the Mega men's signatures are that unique!"

Omega smiled murderously, bringing his blade up in a battle stance, "Probably because I _am _unique. So unique, in fact, that I'm different from every other reploid on the face of this planet."

"Isn't that what unique means? Oh well, this is getting boring. Time for some fun!" He swiftly jumped back, spreading his palm outwards. Three balls of electricity radiated out. Omega jumped over the balls, only to have them hit him after bouncing off the walls behind his back. The haroid giggled, then sprang up into the wires.

Omega grimaced. With the rabbit on top of the wires, he couldn't use his Frost Wave EX Skill. Plug began playing a quick little ditty on his flute, prancing about above the wires. This caused electric bolts to rain down from the wires. Suspecting the bolts might spread when he hit the ground, Omega double jumped out of the way. His suspicions proved true, but his "forecast" prevented them from harming him.

Plug jumped down from the wires, giggling again. Omega took the initiative, launching himself towards Plug and utilizing his Frost Wave. Ice beats electricity, so the haroid went down hard.

"OW!" he screamed. Before Omega could launch another Frost Wave, Plug leaped up and away from him. He jumped at the wall, his spike feet sparking upon contact. He turned to Omega, grimacing, "You're mean, mister! That hurt! So take this!" he shrieked, throwing three spark balls towards Omega. Omega only had to duck one, as the other two missed him. He tensed to jump, but these spark balls didn't bounce. But the delay cost him. Plug let himself fall off the wall, throwing more electricity at him, then bounding back up into the wires. As Omega dodged the ricocheting orbs, Plug again played the flute and danced about, taunting Omega as the lightning bolts hit.

Omega received a shock or two, but was otherwise unhurt. Despite that, he was determined to pay back the haroid. As soon as Plug started to jump down, he jetted towards him. Caught in midair, Plug had no choice but to take the full force of another Frost Wave. The icicle covered psuedoroid crashed to the ground. Omega triple-slashed him, then vaulted back as the ice around Plug broke. He tried to get up, but another Frost wave brought him back down. Plug's armor was cracking considerably from the combination of ice and sword attacks, so Omega prepared to finish him once and for all. Just as the ice broke again, Omega sprang forward, slashing as fast as he could. Seven deep gashes cut through the ice, and consequently, most of the haroid's body. The last of the ice crumbled off, leaving Plug weak and broken on the ground.

"G... gah... why does it... hurt so much...?" he whimpered, his lifeblood leaking out across the cold stone.

"It's called death," Omega stated. He brought up his sword, holding it at an angle. One quick plunge later, Plug met his end. He brought out his sword, wiping it against one of the rocks strewn across the floor. Data slowly leaked from the haroid's mechanical carcass, floating towards Omega. His sword clean, he sheathed it, then let the data flow into his palm.

"_DNA information acquired. EX Skill "Static" obtained. EX Skill Static negates descent against suitable surfaces._"

"Negates descent? That must mean I won't slide while clinging to something like a wall..." Omega mused, "but what does "suitable" mean? Ah well."

He exited his thoughts, turning his attention to his environment. After all that time navigating the maze, Omega guessed that there wasn't an exit to it. So he jumped up to the wires above. The moment he grabbed them, he began to slip on their smooth surface. Hoping for the best, he activated Static. It worked. Electric currents ran through his hands and feet, bonding him to the wires. Clambering to the top of the wires, Omega took stock of his surroundings.

To his surprise, he could see the way out. Previously hidden by the walls (which the wires were slightly above), the way out was as clear as crystal. He memorized the path, along with any visible traps, and headed back.

Omega stepped into the hallway and out of the maze. He stretched, happy with his newest EX Skill (and the good battle that had earned it). Blinking, he looked down the tunnel Ashe had gone down, wondering how she was doing. But when he took a a step towards the tunnel to find out, the ceiling opened up!

"yeeeeEEEEEAAAAAHH!" Ashe screamed. She came flying out of the hole at full speed, slamming into the ground. Omega winced, glad he wasn't the one who'd just met the business part of the floor head on. Or perhaps, to be more accurate, "butt on", judging by which body part she was rubbing.

"Ooooowww..." she complained. Dragging herself up, she noticed Omega, "Oh, hey. Having any luck?"

"As a matter of fact, I am. I just thrashed some stupid psuedoroid who had a flute."

"Okay, I see. They must've been the one who'd downed the teleportation circuit. I just managed to put it back on, actually. Turns out that the path I went down leads to an abandoned power plant! So I guess that means that I completed the mission, doesn't it?" she grinned smugly.

Omega frowned, "No, that just means that you turned the circuit back on. _I'm _the one that dealt with the "disturbance"."

Ashe darted down the tunnel leading to the forest's entrance, "We both did half! So let's race, all or nothing!"

Omega saw the floor in front of her, noticing the odd pattern in the floor too late, "LOOK OUT!" he yelled.

She turned back to him, "For what?"

_Shing_!

Ashe's eyes opened wide in shock. She gaped, open mouthed at Omega, then slowly moved her vision to the thin lance protruding from just below her right collarbone. She coughed. Blood appeared on her lips.

"Shit!" Omega cursed. He dashed forward, swinging his blade to cut the lance. What he hadn't cut slid gratingly back into its point of origin. Ashe started to fall, but Omega caught her, immediately putting pressure on the injury. She coughed again, and more blood appeared, beginning to trickle down her face.

"Aheheh... should've watched my step..." she groaned.

"Don't talk, it'll make it worse. Oh FUCK, what have I gotten myself into now?" he grimaced. A mega man lay dying in his arms, a _mega man_, of all people! Judging by everyone's reaction to "mega men" they were pretty important. And now one was bleeding furiously right in front of him. Shit, if anyone found out he was here, they would investigate his part in this "accident". And they'd check his file, if he even had one. If he didn't, they be hunting for him, and he did...

It wouldn't be pretty.

Ashe squirmed, her eyelids beginning to droop. Her lips moved, trying to say something. "C... c... comm..."

"Communicator?" Omega asked. She nodded, then shifted her hand to her pocket. Omega understood immediately, reaching into the pocket and bringing out a round vid-screen radio. There was a long, thin red button under the screen with "emergency" printed on it. He was about to press the button, then thought twice about it. He placed it in her hand, causing her eyes to go wide with fear. Then he moved her thumb around and onto the button.

"If anyone asks, there was no one else here, got it? Got it? Or I'll hunt you down and finish the job!" Omega moved the communicator around so that it faced Ashe. He pressed the button using her finger.

"Legion emergency services, what do you- Oh my GOD! Someone, line 15, it's Ashe! For crying out loud, IT'S _ASHE_! Don't worry Ashe, we'll transport medics over there immediately!

The sound of many people scrambling came from the radio, presumably the people on the other side of the line. Omega let Ashe's hand drop to her side, then dashed down the hallway. Just as he leaped off the high ledge to the room below, he heard the characteristic sound of teleportation behind him.

X X X

Vines and leaves were thrown aside as Omega dashed through the forest at top speed. He glanced behind him for pursuers. Seeing none, he slackened his breakneck pace. Panting, he looked around. The forest was thinning, he wasn't far from the edge. The sound of a stream trickling peacefully through the forest came from not far off, birds tweeted sweetly from the treetops. Omega let himself relax, glad he escaped unnoticed. Still, he listened intently for something out of place, peering through the few shadows. While nothing seemed abstract, the smell of blood overpoweringly filled his nostrils. With a pang, he realized it was him. His red shirt was soaked with Ashe's blood and his pants were covered with dust from his fight with Plug.

Omega looked around again, this time looking for a way to get the incriminating evidence off. Light glinted off water about twenty feet away. He jumped towards it, hopping off roots and rocks to avoid leaving tracks. He stopped on a particularly large root, peering down at the cold running water below. It was clear enough to see that the stream was empty, except for a few (naturally occurring) fish. One more quick glance around his surroundings, and he jumped in.

The water came up to his waist. Omega gasped, then let out a sigh of relief as the water washed over his burns and cuts (some still there from fighting Wallaburn). He looked at his hands, covered with crimson.

"When they say your hands will never comes clean, they really mean it," he joked. He slid his thumb and fingers together, the warm liquid lubricating them. Inspiration hit.

He closed his eyes, focusing. His hands glowed slightly from gathering the DNA from her blood. He smiled, pleasantly surprised that it worked.

"_DNA information Acquired. EX Skill "Reflect Laser" obtained. EX Skill Reflect Laser causes fully charged O-buster to fire energy that will rebound off of solid surfaces._"

Omega chuckled. Two EX Skills in one day! He was getting better at this! His business done, he submerged his upper body, scrubbing at the blood and dirt soaked into his clothes. When it was gone, he got out of the stream, shaking the water off. He began walking towards where his ship was, taking his time. With no one following him, he might as well go leisurely and dry off, right?

Several hours later, he arrived back in Hunter's camp. The place was abuzz. Hunters whispered into each other's ears, darted their eyes nervously around, and gasped in amazement.

"Did you hear..."

"About what happened to Ashe?"

"No way, are you..."

Omega parked his ship in his hangar. Locking all the doors and the window, he left into the heart of the camp. No one payed attention to him, all concerned with the newest gossip concerning Ashe. Apparently, information traveled fast.

Omega remembered his "promise" to the Gem Gang, so headed in their general direction. About halfway there, he saw them huddling off to one side of the main drag. They spotted him shortly after. Running over to him, Omega could see that they were afraid, as was everyone else in camp.

"There you are! Didn't you hear about what happened to that mega man?"

Omega shrugged, feigning ignorance. They huddled around him, explaining.

"I heard she got attacked by a monster! A huge mechaniloid!"

"No no, it was an assassin! And a damn good one too, nearly did her in!"

"No way, it was an ancient deity of-"

"Pure evil! That's what that purist guy-"

"Was saying, anyways."

Ruby crossed her arms, "Poppycock! I heard the real story, she was attacked by an army! Those religious Purist always blame something on an ancient deity of pure evil! You can't listen to them and be sane at the same time!"

"I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually," Diamond said. Sirens blared from the corners of every building, ringing out over the street. The gang looked at the sirens, then looked at each other. A voice blared over the intercom.

"All hunters and civilians, please return to your homes and workstations immediately. A level two lockdown is in place to ensure everyone's safety. Repeat, please return to your homes and workplaces. Thank you."

"Level two lockdown?" Omega questioned. Diamond beckoned the group to follow him, then raced towards their apartments. Opal explained to Omega as they ran.

"Well, level two means that something bad happened somewhere, to someone important usually, so they keep everyone locked up in case it's gonna happen to anyone else. It's also a great way to keep any suspects where they are, since if someone runs, then they know something's up."

"Oh, okay..." Omega nodded. It seems he ended up back in camp just in time. The group went into the main room, chatting with each other about what might have really happened to Ashe. Omega joined in the conversation for a bit, but after a while, told the others that he was tired. He crept over to the couch and fell asleep.

* * *

Hey guys, sorry for the wait (and the late update). I hope you enjoyed it! And please, don't be disconcerted if you have to wait a while for the next chapter too. Packing up after Christmas can take a while, not to mention New Years right after! Plus, I just discovered the PC game Spore. Heeheehee... too much fun... (even if it's only the demo...)


	12. A dark dusk

Disclamer: see previous chapter. Anonymous reviews welcome, just don't flame or I will retract this privilege. Remember, treat others the way you wish to be treated!

Oh, and congrats to you who figured out which song I based the last chapter's title on (The Ruins of Lab, MMZ1).

SubZeroChimera- *fighting with Omega*

Omega- *fighting with SubZeroChimera*

Audience- *watches, confused*

SubZeroChimera- *looks at audience* "What, you didn't expect the peace to last forever, did you?"

X X X X X X X X X X

Lights blared and machines beeped endlessly. Nurses, doctors, and surgeons leaned over the stretcher, gathered instruments, or monitored vital signs. They moved their patient onto an operating table, wheeling the bloody stretcher away. Their activity concealed the patient's figure, but all who watched the operation knew who it was they were operating on.

"Will Ashe be okay, mom?" Grey asked nervously.

"I wish I knew, Grey, I wish I knew..." Aile responded, almost sobbing. All of the mega men had been immediately called to Legion, and now stood on the other side of a window into the room, watching anxiously. Pandora squeezed Prometheus' hand. After what the two Model A mega men had done for them, they too were worried about Ashe. Master Mikhail and Thomas entered the room, causing the mega men to turn.

"How goes it? We got here as soon as we could," Mikhail inquired. Aeolus shook his head sadly.

"We don't know. They've been in there for a while. I suppose we should be happy that she's still alive, but... with them working in her for so long, it must mean that there's some complications..." he replied.

"It's a damn good thing she was megamerged when whatever it was that got her, you know, got her." Atlas added. Thomas nodded, then turned to the operation. Everyone else followed suit. The atmosphere was tense with worry as the operation dragged on. Suddenly, the lead surgeon straightened up, sighing. The others in the room did the same. Their audience watched with bated breath as one of the nurses slowly twisted to face them...

And gave them the thumbs up.

Atlas and Thetis whooped with relief, giving each other high-fives. Aile and Grey hugged each other, then Aile grabbed Vent and hugged him too. Siarnaq nodded slightly while Pandora and Prometheus smiled. The others just sighed. The crisis was over. Everyone began filing out of the room, looking for somewhere to go to relax after the tension. However, the Masters had other ideas.

"Forgive us, mega men, but we need to ask you something of you," Thomas said. The mega men turned to look at him, curiosity and apprehension etched on all but Siarnaq's face.

"What's that?" Vent questioned.

"Well, after this incident, Thomas and I were worried that you mega men were being targeted. So we would like it if you stayed at Legion, at least for the time being. Now, some of you are already staying here," he motioned towards Pandora, Prometheus, Siarnaq, and the elemental mega men, "but for the rest of you, be assured that we'll provide rooms. Now I know you're wondering why, but Thomas and I have just issued a level two lockdown. So it's best if you stay here, just to be safe."

"I hope you're not accusing us of this heinous act," Aeolus frowned. Thomas shook his head.

"No. We know that none of you were within contact of Ashe of this happening. We actually believe that this may have been an accident, but as Mikhail told you, we are trying to be safe."

"Ah, I see..." Aeolus nodded.

"Alright, now that that's settled, I wonder if I could have a word with you two in private?" Mikhail asked the sibling mega men. Pandora nodded. They followed him out of the room and down a long hall, puzzled at why Mikhail wished to speak with them alone. Soon after, he stopped outside another, smaller room. Opening the door, he went inside, so they entered it as well.

"So what do you need to talk to us about?" asked Prometheus as he shut the door behind Pandora. Mikhail turned, regarding the two.

"Despite what's happening out there to the other mega men, there's still other things to deal with around Legion, one of which is what will happen to you. After all, you are mega men as well, or were at least. Not only that, we realize that you went through a lot concerning Albert. As such, Thomas and I have an offer for you." he said.

Prometheus looked confused, "What kind of offer?"

Mikhail replied, "Well, we understand that you two went through a lot, being forced to commit crimes for Albert, and then we realized something. Technically, you two could be considered witnesses to _his _crimes, and because of this, be put into a witness protection program."

Both of the mega men looked incredulous. "Witness protection program? What the heck does that mean?" the reaper mega man inquired.

"It means that you will be given fake names, fake histories for anyone who looks you up in a Legion database, the chance to get a job and be a normal person-"

"You mean, we get to have lives? Freedom? We get a choice?" Prometheus gaped. His expression was both unbelieving and hopeful at the same time.

"Yes, provided you follow a few rules, the main one being not to do anything illegal," nodded Mikhail.

The pair looked at each other for about a second before answering simultaneously, "We're in!"

Mikhail smiled, "That's good to hear! Let's get started, then. And don't worry, we'll make sure the other mega men are informed about your decision, alright?"

"Yup!"

After that, the three sat down, discussing various aspects of the mega men's new lives.

X X X X X

Omega awoke to the sound of the Gem Gang's chatter and the static blaring of a radio. He stretched, blinking as he turned around to see what they were doing.

"And now our top story. Ashe, the famous mega man who was apparently attacked yesterday, is said to be in a stable condition by Legion and is expected to make a full recovery. While authorities are still investigating the circumstances surrounding this so called "attack", Legion's only reply to any inquiries are that it was an accident and is not suspicious for any reasons. One of our sources, however, claims that there were strange, unidentifiable footprints and fingerprints at the crime scene. When we asked Legion about this, we were only told "no comment". We now turn to an expert criminal activities analyst..."

"What this all about?" Omega asked. Diamond turned and shushed him as the radio droned on.

"...When we informed him of all we knew, he replied, "Nonsense! The law requires that serial numbers are engraved in both a reploid's feet and hands, as well as in all shoes and gloves for humans. There's no way boot or hand prints that clear would yield no results. And Legion has a tight reign over production of goods of any sort, so there's no way such items could be "custom made". As such, this so-called _assassin _can be chocked up to mere speculation and, might I add, a bad source..."

"Can you imagine that? A person without serial numbers?" Ruby asked rhetorically.

"So there's serial numbers on everything made in a factory, huh? What about a humans' regular hands?" Omega asked.

Diamond answered his question. "We have normal fingerprints, like we've had for millenia. The only way I can think of a reploid not having serial numbers is if they were made somewhere in secret."

"Look, that's gotta be bloody near impossible. You heard what that analyst said! Legion's almost got a _monopoly _on production. Anyone working outside of that law is punished severely, too. Not even the raiders are brave enough to do it. And hey, come on, the serial numbers are to their advantage as well." Amethyst argued.

"Hey, that Albert guy managed to do it, didn't he?"

"From what we've heard, anyways," Pink and Blue said.

"That Albert guy was one of the Sage Trinity. He could've gotten away with anything!" Amethyst frowned. Omega was starting to get confused, so he left their conversation. He headed towards the door, until Opal and Sapphire stopped him.

"Just where do you think you're going, huh?" they walked up to him, standing between him and the door, "There's still a level two lockdown, you know."

"I just wanted to do some research, that's all. Being a hermit for a long time, you tend to get left behind when it comes to the latest news and all that. I'm sure Legion, or whatever they're called, won't deny me a trip to a good ole library, right?" he shrugged, grinning. Sapphire shook her head, but it was Opal who answered.

"At this point and time, a trip to the library could actually get you arrested. I'd recommend that you use the internet. I mean, with all the people looking for information about this, chances are it's going to be given, at least a little bit," she pointed out. Omega thought about it for a minute, then agreed. It would also not draw attention to him if he did that.

"Fair enough, where can I get a connection? Got a computer anywhere?"

"Sure, got one in my room! I'll go get it!" Opal exclaimed. She dashed off to room 312, but was back quickly. She handed Omega a small computer that looked like a book, "This should do it! You can access all citizen clearance Legion databases from it. After all the kerfuffle with Ouroboros, they've been updating the databases as much as possible."

"Thanks," he replied. He took the computer, walking over to the couch. While the gang went back to debating the Ashe issue, he turned on the computer and began typing in words in a search engine. He started with Ouroboros, getting a simple result.

"_Ouroboros. Entries: 2. Entry one; A mythological being said to represent eternity. Entry two; an airship made by the fusion of numerous _Model W_s_ _created by a former _Sage Trinity _member, _Master Albert_, who went _maverick_. Security clearance needed to view full data entry: Master level._" Omega winced. A picture of the ship that landed on him was below the entry. He clicked on the links that were on the page (the words that are underlined and not in italics), and read the information there.

"_Model W. Entries: 1. A sinister _biometal _responsible for many _maverick _outbreaks. Security clearance needed to view full data entry: Master level._" Omega narrowed his eyes. There was that other word, biometal. He went back to the Ouroboros file, clicking on and reading the entries that it linked to (except for maverick. Being born one, he knew full well what it meant). Not much was there, needing a Master level security clearance to read the whole files, but he understood the basics. He went and looked at the entry for biometal, scanning what was written there.

"_Biometal. Entries: 1. Biometal is a special type of sentient metal (said to be descended from ancient heroes/tyrants) that can "megamerge" with a host to vastly improve the host's abilities. The host must have a special DNA code injected into their systems to be considered a "biomatch" for a biometal. Individuals injected with said DNA are known as "_Mega men_". There are/were thirteen known mega men, and eight known biometals. The mega men are: Aeolus, Aile, Albert (deceased), Ashe, Atlas, Grey, Giro(deceased), Pandora (deceased), Prometheus (deceased), Serpent (deceased), Sirnaq, Thetis, and Vent . The biometals are: Model A, Model F, Model H, Model L, Model P, Model W (destroyed), Model X, and Model Z. Security clearance needed to view full data entry: Master level._"

Omega scowled. So his suspicions may be correct. Siarnaq might have something to do with Phantom! He scrolled down the page, then shuddered with cold fury. There were pictures of the biometals, and the apparently megamerged mega men. Despite changes in their appearance, he could easily recognize the "ancient hero" origins of each of them.

He shut the computer suddenly, holding his breath and counting mentally. The last thing he needed to do was get enraged and want to attack something in the middle of a lockdown. He slowly opened the computer again, viewing the pictures. At least he knew more about what he was dealing with.

He went to the bottom of the page, looking at the Model W. There were several pictures for each variety of the biometal, one small and the others large and mutated looking. Then there were pictures of four other people, two unmerged labeled as Serpent and Albert, and two merged labeled as Pandora and Prometheus.

"A shame they're all dead or destroyed," he thought, "because it would have been fun to kill them. Heh, I wonder what Weil's face would've looked like if he saw me running at him with my sabre." Omega scratched his chin, pondering the different possible looks. He gave that up since none of them seemed to fit, returning to the computer. Apart from a short description of each of the mega man's abilities next to their pictures, there was nothing.

Nothing, except for the pictures of Vent and Aile, which were beside each other. They were sibling mega men, and each shared both the Model X and Z biometals.

"Model ZX? Looks like they could pose a problem... " Omega muttered. The gang was still intent on their own business, and gave Omega no heed. Then Omega noticed something else.

"Wait a minute... Model ZX? Z... X... Zero... X..." he covered his mouth, barely stopping his laughter as he once again shuddered, this time with mirth.

"Gwahaha! I knew it! Model ZeroX! I _knew _those two lovebirds would end up together! Ahahaha!" He guffawed loudly, shaking so hard he fell off the couch with a WHUMP.

The gang turned to look at him rolling on the floor, clutching his stomach, but then resigned themselves back to their own conversation. After two days of him not wanting to eat (with them, at least), they'd accepted the fact that he was a bit off in the head.

Omega dragged himself of the floor after a few minutes of laughing his ass off (figuratively). He was still grinning when he settled himself back into the couch. Picking up the computer, he read the article again. After finding no new tidbits of information, he leaned back and looked at the ceiling. What to look up now? He clicked the _random article _button a few times, hoping for ideas. Nothing came to mind until he came upon an article about the alphabet.

"Hmmm... I wonder if there's anything about me?" He typed in _Omega _in the search bar, not knowing what to expect. Would it be a detailed article about all of his murderous exploits, or a vague one saying something about a god of legend? Either way, it would need a high level clearance to read the whole file, of course. Data on him was both rare and valuable.

The article came up. He looked through it, first at the Omega symbol at one side of the page, then reading the entry itself. "_Omega. Entries: 2. Entry one; the last letter in the ancient _Greek alphabet_. Entry two; a symbol commonly associated with extremely bad _luck_, and occasionally death. No higher clearance level files available._"

Omega's eyes shot open, "No way, that _can't _be right..." he read through the article several times. Nothing. "Maybe I should look up a different search word... yeah, that's it, a different search." He entered God of Destruction in the search bar, zipping through the short article.

"_God of Destruction. Entries: 1. A fictitious _antagonist _in the old __children's story__, _Sky's Tale_, also known as Tales of the Sky. No higher clearance level files available._"

Crestfallen wouldn't have described a tenth of what Omega felt. He slowly got up, walking over to Opal and handing her the computer. He managed to squeeze out a quick, "Thanks," before going back to the couch and flopping down heavily, his back turned to the world. No one noticed.

No one ever noticed. No one ever cared. If this was any indication, no one even _remembered_. All his life, he'd worked on being the most feared being in existence, fulfilling his destiny of destroying everything. His first words he'd ever heard were "Kill him. He is my greatest enemy, destroy him! Destroy them all!" (or something like that, anyways). Of course he'd agreed, starting with the one who'd apparently made him. He'd only stopped because he'd run out of energy. At that point his conscience was nothing more than a personality subroutine, but that was being technical. Then Zero came in, and the only thing he could do to fulfill his bloodlust was to try and influence Zero to fulfill it for him (not hard, he was ever the gullible fool). Then Weil came and gave him and a proper mind of his own in exchange for his servitude. He couldn't have said no, strapped to the table with his vital circuitry showing. Besides, there was an energy crisis, and even _he _needed something to keep him going. And although enslaved to Weil, Omega had always gone the extra mile to show the world that he meant business. And all that work, all that toil, all that innocent blood spilled, smeared, vaporized, whatever Omega felt like doing that day, had amounted to naught.

For the rest of the world, the day passed, filled with tension, curiosity and fear. For Omega, it passed with the mind-numbing shock one acquires when they realize that they, at one time the most petrifying reploid on the planet, was no longer remembered in even the most aged historian's mind.

He was the only one who knew that he'd ever existed.

X X X X X X X X X X

Ouch... sorry for what some might consider a slightly emo end, but it had to be done. And sorry for the long waiting time, school's back and filled with homework, so updates are gonna take longer. That, and the Galactic edition of Spore is _way_ too addicting.

Oh, PS. I heard the new ZX game has been announced somewhere. And you won't believe (okay, you might) who you get to play as.

*Edit* Oops, thanks to Luverly Light for noticing that I missed Giro in the list of Mega men.


	13. But a brighter dawn

Disclaimer: you should know by now, except for doctor Karo. But now you do know (that I made him).

Note: due to a mistake on my behalf, **Siarnaq's name has been misspelled for the last twelve chapters**. No offense was intended to him or his fans, and I have done my best to correct it. But I'm human, so no guarantees that I got all of it, so if you find a chapter with mistakes in it, please PM me respectfully and tell me where. Much Appreciated!

Omega- "Take that!"

SubZeroChimera- "Ouch! Jerk!"

Omega- "And this!"

SubZeroChimera- "Aah!"

Omega- "And THIS!"

SubZeroChimera- "Eek!"

Omega- "Goddamnit, die already!"

SubZeroChimera- "Nah, why don't you? Eat this!"

Omega- "Wha-? Why you! You're gonna pay!"

SubZeroChimera- "Then make me!"

*Explosion*

Announcer- "GAME!"

SubZeroChimera- "Huh? When did that mine get there?"

Omega- "Since you put it there and forgot about it, stupid!"

SubZeroChimera- "Okay, that's it!" *grips controller tightly* "You're askin' for it! No more Pikachu, this time, I'm goin' Toon Link!"

Omega- "You're on!"

SubZeroChimera- *turns to crowd* "Don't you just love Smash Bros?"

* * *

Ashe coughed, turning in her bed. Trace amounts of light sneaked in through the window to her room, the stars being their source. They lit up the small area, illuminating the cabinets and chairs that are customary to any hospital. Blinking away tears of fatigue, she yawned loudly. Then with a start her eyes shot open, sitting up as quickly as she could (which was pretty fast).

"What the heck? Where... This isn't the ruins!" she exclaimed, looking about hurriedly. Her eyes fell on th hunched, sleeping form of Grey in a chair next to her bed. The youngest mega man had stayed awake for as long as he could, waiting faithfully for her to wake. Ashe frowned, snatching him by his shoulder and shaking him.

"Oi, get up! What's going on here, Grey? What am I doing here?" she demanded. Grey grumbled, still half-asleep. He took a long time to get up... or would have, if Ashe wasn't so impatient.

"I said get up!" Ashe commanded, smacking him roughly over the head.

"Ow!" he responded, wincing and placing his hands on the lump that popped up. He faced her, small tears in the corners of his eyes and a look of indignation across his face, "What was that for?"

"I don't know, maybe because I don't know what's going on and you were too asleep to tell me?"

"Figures, the minute I hit the hay, I get hit by you," he complained.

"Not my fault you sleep like a log!"

"At least I don't hit people for no reason!"

"I had a perfectly good reason! I felt like it!"

"And that's a good reason to you?"

The two continued arguing. Behind the door to the room, one wind mega man sighed. So much for just going in and explaining to her what happened. If she was this riled just by Grey being asleep, no telling what she would do once he told her about her condition. At least she seemed to be alright...

Aeolus knocked on the door, and the Model A mega men stopped their fight abruptly. "Come on in already, the door should be open!" Ashe yelled. Aeolus complied, his cloak swishing regally as he turned and closed the door after entering.

"It seems you are up, Ashe. The masters sent me to tell you some news, mainly about the two "special mega men" and your own condition." he stated.

"Then hurry up and tell me already, I haven't got all day," she snapped. Aeolus took no notice.

"I believe it is nighttime, actually. But very well, let's start with the mega men. The Masters have decided that they will be put in a "witness protection program" of sorts. Henceforth, they will be known as Black and White. Somewhat inspired by Grey's name, I suppose." he smirked. The gray haired pair nodded, but let him continue, "Also, due to your injuries, the surgeons have highly recommended that you take some time to recover, as in _no vigorous activities_."

She frowned, "No activity? For how long?"Aeolus gulped. This was the information he'd dreaded having to give.

"At least a month-"

"A _MONTH_! For god's sake, how can anyone expect me to sit still for a month? This is ridiculous! Absurd! Totally unreasonable!" she ranted, oblivious to anything else except her anger.

Aeolus sighed once more. This would be a long night...

X X X X X

Dawn invaded the living room, beaming down inconsiderately on Omega. He ignored it, still curled up on the couch from last night. It continued regardless, lighting the apartment thoroughly. About a half hour later, one of the Gem gang (he didn't know who due to the fact that he was facing the couch) sauntered lazily into the room. Yawning, they opened the fridge and began rooting through it, objects chinking together before they found what they wanted. The fridge door was closed and the radio was turned on shortly after. Omega didn't bother listening. More of the group's members slowly filed out of their bedrooms or from the front door, until Omega could tell by the footsteps that they were all there. Some chairs scraped against the floor. Apparently, it was breakfast time for the gang.

Someone poked his back. By the small fingers, it had to be either Pink or Blue Pearl. He took no notice it, despite the fact that they were starting to poke pretty hard.

"Wake up sleepyhead, it's breakfast!" said Pink, right before another set of fingers began prodding.

"Aren'tcha hungry?" asked Blue. Omega didn't so much as move.

"Hey, Diamond, I think something's wrong with him!"

"He isn't moving!"

"Huh? He isn't? I thought I saw him breathing earlier..." replied Diamond. The white-haired leader got up, walking over to the couch. He grabbed Omega, shaking him lightly. When that proved fruitless, he beckoned Emerald over. The muscular man also shook Omega gently. When the action proved useless again, Emerald grabbed his shirt near the scruff of his neck, lifting him up.

Omega glanced over, emotionless, but soon looked down to the floor, not bothering to put in any more effort than the one gesture. Emerald dropped him back slowly to the couch, this time facing outwards.

"Fine," grunted the giant. Diamond knelt down in front of Omega, placing his hand on Omega's forehead.

"Are you alright, buddy? You look kinda out of it. Not sick, are you?" Omega responded by closing his eyes, trying to fall asleep and shut out the world.

The twins shook their heads simultaneously, "Poor guy, he should've eaten more!"

"Bad things happen to those who don't eat right!"

"Maybe he wasn't eating right because he was sick?" Sapphire called over from the table. Diamond snapped his fingers together in agreement.

"That _must_ be it! Amethyst, make him up a plate right now!"

"Roger!" Amethyst grinned, setting to the task immediately.

"I'm not hungry..." Omega mumbled, rolling over to face the couch's back.

"Nonsense! Come and have a little grub!" Diamond smiled, tugging at Omega.

"I said I'm not hungry!" Omega roared, smacking Diamond away. Opal dashed over as Diamond held his smarting hand, blowing on it to lessen the pain.

"Geeze, we're only trying to help."

"What's with you? You've been doing nothing but sulking lately. Go on, some food will do you a world of good," she encouraged, holding the plate close to his head. He only shifted further into the couch.

"Look, I know the whole lockdown thing has you down, it's got us all feeling rotten to be honest, but there's no need to be this selfish about it! Lighten up and eat already!" she growled, shoving the plate closer to him.

"I don't eat."

"What?"

"I. Don't. Eat." he snapped, "so just leave me alone!"

"What do you mean, you don't eat? Everyone eats except..." Opal started to say, stopping at some sort of realization. "You... aren't a purist, are you?"

"What the heck is a purist?" Omega grumbled.

"They're some sort of religious group that believes that humans and reploids should be different, completely separate... you know, _pure_. It's a bunch of poppycock, and it's illegal. So are you a purist?" she demanded.

"I don't give a damn about religion of any sort. I just don't eat. So buzz off already, will you?" he growled, starting to get a little emotion back to his voice.

"Fair enough. Guess there's just no reasoning with some people..." she sighed. The gang went back to their own business, finishing their breakfast and leaving Omega to his own devices. As they left the apartment, Omega dozed off, still numb from yesterday's discovery.

Hours passed. The day grew bright and cheerful, birds sang and flitted across window. Omega slept on, oblivious to the uplifting atmosphere around the camp.

The door to the apartment opened. Three sets of feet rumbled happily into the apartment and over to his resting place.

"It's over, it's over!"

"The lockdown is over!"

Both Pearls jumped onto him, waking him with a start. He gave them both filthy looks, complaining.

"And why the hell should I care? Makes no difference in the end."

"Give it a rest, you great fussbudget," Ruby lectured, "it makes all the difference in the world! Without the lockdown, we can go get jobs again! And getting a job will help lift your funk! So hop to it!" Ruby dragged him up off the couch, patting him on the back and leading him to the door.

"Where in blue blazes am I supposed to get a job?" Omega grumped, reluctant to leave his misery.

"No need to worry about that, mister! We've already got one!"

"And it's high level enough that we're gonna need the whole team to do it!" Pink and Blue piped in.

Omega looked down at them, "Hmph... Maybe it will help... What kind of job is it?"

"You'll see!"

"If you say so..." he replied, unsure of what to expect.

X X X

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Omega shot, almost appalled at what he saw.

"Language!" Ruby scolded. Not one fifteen minute train ride after being woken up, Omega was standing in front of a large, quaint looking cottage. It was so cheery looking that it was sickening, what with it's rainbow of brightly coloured flowers, the cute cobblestone path leading to the front stairs, a sunny welcome mat, and beautiful green grass waving lightly in the breeze. Designed to look like an ancient, old English style house, it had wooden window shutters and accents. To the left of the door was a sign reading "Dr. Karo's cyber elf research facility".

"You honestly expect me to sit around and babysit _cyber elves_?" Omega yelled incredulously.

Amethyst waved his arms towards the house, "Quit acting like this is an easy job! Cyber elves are an endangered species, and we've been entrusted to take care of a bunch of them for a whole day! This is a C-rank mission, we need to focus to be able to complete it!"

"Besides," whispered Diamond, "we're getting paid 500 bucks for it!"

"No way... You can't... this isn't right! I'm a fighter, not a nanny! Who the hell do you think you're kidding!" he exclaimed angrily. Ruby bopped him over the back of the head.

"What did I tell you about your language? Most of those cyber elves in there are babies! We don't want them hearing swear words, or Doctor Karo will chew us out!"

"I don't give a f-!"

_WHAP_!

"Ouch! What was that for?" Omega complained, rubbing his sore nose.

"For your language, you numskull! I already warned you about holding your tongue!" Ruby scowled, putting away the newspaper in her bag.

"Geeze, I get it, I get it! No more swear words!" he pouted, the bridge of his nose still smarting from the attack. Diamond, meanwhile, had gone up to the door and knocked on it, stepping back as he heard someone on the other side. The door was opened, and a petite scientist in a white lab coat and glasses stepped out.

"Who is it?" he asked, adjusting his glasses' frames.

"It's us, the Gem Gang! You called us to help out with your cyber elves!" Diamond smiled. The scientist grinned back, nodding.

"Ah, good, good, you came! Step inside, there's a few final things to discuss before I leave." He opened the door wider, inviting the group inside. They complied, Omega noticing as he entered that the inside of the cottage was different in places from the outside. While the entryway and the large living room were traditional, the rest of the house truly looked like a research center ought to. Steel surfaces covered most of the floors, walls and counters, while spacious energy containment and monitering units were installed in one or two of the walls. Inside those cages were some of the smallest cyber elves Omega had ever seen, while outside them were more mature looking elves, some even holding weapons. Toys were scattered randomly across the floor in what looked like a nursery, and elves only slightly larger than the babies were playing or running around the house with them.

"Aww! Aren't they cute?" Opal sighed, picking up a bird-themed one. It tweeted happily, then fluttered off to collide with another one. Opal giggled, comforting the two elves as the rest of the gang sat down around the living room table (it was low to the ground, so seating wasn't a problem).

"You bunch are like clockwork, coming here at exactly the right time. Now as you probably know, I need to head to town to get some special supplies, as well as visit my cousin who's come to see me. I've made a list of the things you need to do," he took a piece of paper out of one of his pockets, placing it on the table, "but I also wanted to warn you about the elves. They can be a bit of a handful, especially when there's strangers around. So please, don't underestimate them, or get too angry at them. After all, they're just babies, most of them," he explained, moving his glasses back up his nose as they slowly slid down it.

"Yes sir!"

"You can count on us, sir!" the twins chimed.

The scientist smiled and laughed, patting the twins on their heads, "I'm sure I can! I'd better get going, though, or _I'll_ be the one who's late. Be back at five!" He got up, heading towards the door. After picking up a jacket, he turned and said goodbye. The gang echoed, except for Emerald and Omega. After Dr. Karo left, Diamond picked up the list and quickly read through it.

"Alright, feed the adults at twelve and four, feed the babies every hour starting at twelve, make sure to keep them and the house clean, monitor the babies at all times... Alright, I think we can do this guys! Stay alert!" he commanded. The gang simultaneously stood up, throwing their fists into the air.

"Let's go, mission start!" they all exclaimed. Omega sweatdropped.

What the heck had he just gotten himself into?

X X X

The mission seemed to pass smoothly overall, as each of the group's members were given specific jobs. The twins were charged with playing with the elves, as did everyone who wasn't doing some other sort of job. Diamond, Emerald and Amethyst cleaned up the house where messes somehow appeared, the girls took care of the feeding, and Omega took care of monitoring the baby elves. Not the worst of the jobs, he supposed, but not something he'd like to do regularly. It was at about two pm, during one of the feedings, that Omega had to do anything else.

Some of the baby elves were crying for food, so the girls got him to feed them. After wiping off one of their mouths (never again, he promised himself, never again), he was putting their feeding formula away in the kitchen cabinet. A full grown animal elf suddenly appeared right next to his shoulder.

"Why do you smell so strange?" it asked innocently. Omega jumped, accidentally knocking over a box of spice.

"Darn it... what do you want?" he asked it impatiently.

"I wanted to know why you smelled like... _that_ place..."

Omega knelt down, trying to see if he could salvage the spice. No such luck, so he got up and headed towards the sink, "_That_ place? What place? Quit speaking nonsense and go bug someone else."

"You're not too bright, are you? Then again, _that_ place is special. We elves tell no one about it," it grinned, its cute monkey cheeks showing dimples.

"Tell no one what?" he asked, his curiosity aroused. He dampened a dishcloth, then returned to the spill to clean it up.

The little elf grinned mischievously, "It wouldn't be a secret if we told you about it, would it? Mama told us not to tell _anyone_..."

Mama. When had he heard that? He strained his memory, finally remembering with a shock where the term had come from.

"When you say _mama_, you don't mean... the mother elf, do you?" he didn't look up from his task, but his gaze was intense.

"Teehee! How'd you guess? But I can tell you want me to tell you where she is. Too bad mister, she's gone! She went to cyberspace a long time ago, long before you came. She only ever came here once, when I was really really little... but like I said, she's gone for good!" it laughed. Omega glanced around the room, making sure that no one else was there. No one was, so he continued their conversation.

"So what is that place, anyways? Does Dr. Karo know about it?"

"Teeheehee! Dr. Karo knows nothing about this! He thinks he runs this facility, but _I_ know better... we're only sticking around here because we like this place. And I _told_ you, I won't tell you about _that_ place! It's a secret! Teehee!" It began flying around the room, taunting Omega. "A secret, a secret!" it kept repeating happily. Omega ignored the taunts, deciding that it would be for the best to let it go. Instead, he put on a pleading, big-eyed face.

"But... I met mama too! She never told me that great secret! Please, please could you tell me? Mama will be okay with it, I was her friend once. Please?" his eyes widened, getting almost watery. He even put his hands together for effect. As much as he hated to admit it, he could be quite the charmer if it meant getting what he wanted.

"You met mama? Why didn't you tell me? Poor mama acted so _strange_ when she talked about that place, I thought it was because she didn't have friends! I should go to cyberspace and tell her that you were here, she'll be so happy-"

"NO!" Omega shouted. The elf looked at him, scared. Omega quickly regretted his outburst, so he patted the elf on its head. "Er, I mean, please don't. It's been a long time since I saw her, and I don't want anyone to ruin the surprise if I _do_ get to see her. Let's keep this between you and me, okay? It'll be just like..." Omega stopped, grinning sneakily. He beckoned the elf to come closer, and it did, "It'll be another secret," he whispered slyly.

"Oh boy, another great secret! Thanks mister!" It squeaked, racing around the room a second time, "I should tell you my secret, too! That'll be really fun!"

"Fun!" Omega repeated, grinning happily, and slightly menacingly (thank heavens the elf didn't notice).

"Okay, my secret is..." the elf started. It peered around the building, making sure no one was within earshot, before it flew towards Omega. "That there's a special place somewhere that's supposed to lead to cyberspace, where mama is. But the thing is, nothing has been able to pass through it because it's so special! Not even data! So no one knows _anything_ about it, not even the reploids and elves in cyberspace! Any data about that place gets sucked back into it before it gets to cyberspace, so that's why it's such a secret. Mama thinks the reason it does that is because someone really evil died there, and that evil person had the strange ability to destroy the barrier between reality and cyberspace! Silly if you ask me, but I guess when they died, the barrier came back so suddenly that it made a sucky-black hole thingy between the worlds in one area. Whatever goes in, never comes out..." it said, moving its hands slowly in front of his face for effect.

Omega wasn't sure what to make of the information. "So, don't other things get sucked into the area too? And what's so strange about the reploids in cyberspace not knowing about it?" he asked.

The elf looked at him like he hadn't been listening, "Silly mister, don't you get it? The reploids in cyberspace know _everything_! All data and information flows to cyberspace, so they always know what's going on in this world as well as theirs. Even data that has been deleted, or is in a Legion database! They can access it while no one's the wiser. We cyber elves aren't all here just for fun and games, you know, we're here to help get info that hasn't passed over yet! Even if it all passes over as soon as it gets made," the elf laughed. Omega nodded, showing that he was listening. The elf kept ranting.

"As for your first question, no, nothing else has been taken in. No one knows why that is either. The others have tried numerous times to get in, but each experiment they do fails. Not that they can try that much, really. They're actually quite lucky that they know about it at all. I mean, only the data I've told you about so far hasn't been sucked away, and we only know it's approximate location because of it's strange smell and energy signature. That's another reason why cyber elves on this side of the barrier are so important! We can sniff it out, and data that has been collected by someone on either side if the barrier seems to stay where it's put. Having agents working in the real world can get more data to help narrow down both the location of this place and the way in! If we could use this place to it's full extent, who knows, we may be able to make a stable doorway between this world and the next! If something started to go wrong in one world, agents from the other could be sent over to help stop it! We could have a period of everlasting peace!" the elf concluded triumphantly.

Omega grimaced inwardly. Everlasting peace... What a foolish notion! There would never be eternal peace, that was for sure. Too many people would be tempted to use the power of the "special place" for evil. Himself probably being one of them. Outwardly, he smiled enormously, as if the thought pleased him as well.

"That's amazing! Who'd have thought it? Eternal peace... neato! But, one last question..."

"Sure, anything!"

"Is that _all_ they know? Is there really no other information available?"

The elf looked at him strangely. It turned, "pacing" through the air as if contemplating the most important decision of all time. "Promise you won't tell anyone if I tell you."

"I promise." he said solemnly.

The elf frowned, "Promise harder!"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

"With an arrow in your eye!"

"With an arrow in my eye." he repeated. The elf nodded, apparently satisfied.

"Well... okay. The biggest of all secret about this place, and this is a REAL big secret, mind you, is..."

Omega leaned forward, "Is...?"

The elf stared at him, its eyes full of pure seriousness. "That there _is_ other info that gets sucked into this area. And that info, that crucial data, is about none other than the reploid that died long ago, creating the disturbance in cyberspace! Whatever info that was on it, even the stuff that was being taken care of, suddenly disappeared. The only info that survived was that which was related to another reploid at the time. The rest... well, let's just say that the reploid is a complete enigma. Whatever wasn't related to the other guy, the legendary red hero Zero, just disappeared. Even the stuff that had been read already. Almost everyone forgot, just like that. Only those in the real world were spared... but barely. So few people knew him here, and what they did know never got to cyberspace." it finished. Omega was astounded at what he'd found out. Then he smirked. It seemed that the world was on his side this time around.

"Thank you. You don't know how much I appreciate you telling me all this," he said. The cyber elf giggled, hugging itself embarrassingly.

"Oh please mister. It was my pleasure! No need to praise me like that!"

"Oh, but there is all the need in the world! I love to share secrets with friends! How's about we share another one?" he grinned.

"Yes yes please mister!" it joyously sang.

"Let's keep our meeting a secret too, okay? We'll be the only ones to know, it'll be so much fun."

The animal elf saluted, "Yes sir, mister sir!"

"Okay!" Omega reached his hand forward, shaking the hand of the little elf. "Hey, by the way, you hungry? I'm sure I can sneak you a little snack, if you'd like!"

"Yaaaaaay! A snack, a snack! Can I have a cookie, please?" it asked, its eyes becoming googly instantly.

"Comin' up!" Omega turned back into the cupboard. Searching through it, he managed to find some small animal crackers, perfect for the elf. Picking out two, he gave them to the elf with one final word. "Now, be a good little elf and go play now, alright? Keep our secrets all to yourself!"

The elf nodded, grabbing the cookies and blasting off to find other mischief to get into. Omega finished cleaning up the spilled spice, wringing out the cloth in the sink. Looking at the now-empty spice box, he sighed and called out to the rest of the gang.

"Hey, I accidentally spilled some stuff in here, so I'm going to go get more, okay?"

"Alright! We'll hold the fort until you get back!" was the reply. Omega grabbed the jar, sprinting for the front door. As he left, some of the medium-age elves poked around a door frame, watching him leave.

"Smelly man's gone now..." one of them said to the others. They shook their heads, one of them grinning malevolently.

"Smelly man's not here anymore. Think we could have a little fun now?" chuckling followed his remark. Another piped up.

"No moar smully mun, hulloo fun-fun."

"Eheehee, yer right, Moley. Time for fun..."

X X X

Omega arrived at the nearest grocery store. Looking down at the label on the box again, he surmised that this would be the best place to find some more of it. Trotting forward through the automatic doors, he scanned the aisle signs entailing what was in each one. Seeing the spice aisle, he headed towards it. Once there, he searched the shelves for the same spice as the one he had spilled. It took about five minutes to find it. As he took it down, he noticed its steep price. Raising his eyebrow, he wondered if he had enough for a box the same size. Taking out his money, he began counting it to see if he had the amount necessary to buy it. To his dismay, he didn't.

"Damn it, I thought I had more than this... there's gotta be more!" he groaned, groping through his pockets. Only a little more came out, but it still wasn't enough.

"Having a little trouble?" came a familiar voice. Omega left his pocket-pilfering to look up at its source.

"Alfredo? Is that you?"

The raider grinned, "That it is! It's a small world, ain't it? What brings you here?"

"Figures I find you in a spice aisle. I'd rather not say. It's a mission I'm having to do in order to stay low, if you know what I mean," he sighed.

"How bad?"

"Babysitting."

Alfredo rolled his eyes, shaking his head, "Shame, a warrior like you having to do such menial chores. Waste of your talent, if you ask me."

"You flatter me, Alfredo. Let me guess, there's something you want from me," Omega noted.

"You're good. Indeed, there is something we'd like from you. And not your squad, just you," Alfredo replied, gently taking the spice from Omega, "what's this for? I thought you were just babysitting."

"Spilled some. But I don't seem to have the money on me..." Omega nodded, trying to take back the spice. But Alfredo wouldn't hear of it.

"No, no, don't worry about a thing. I'll take care of it for you. It's the least I can do." he insisted, taking the spice and putting it in his shopping basket.

"I hope you're not going to try and make me feel indebted to you," Omega frowned, following Alfredo as he went towards the checkouts.

"What? No, of course not. We should be the ones indebted to you, if anything. Thanks to your, our organization is quickly progressing through the ranks, mostly unopposed."

They arrived at the register, Alfredo placing the groceries in front of the cashier, "That's good news, I suppose," Omega picked up the spice after the cashier was done with it. Alfredo payed the bill, then the two left.

"Very good. Now, back to business. Both our leader, Scimitar, and I were wondering if you'd like to join us?"

Omega kept walking, out of the store and towards the train station, "Nope."

"Why not?" Alfredo asked in surprise, following behind Omega.

"Well, first and foremost, I dislike taking sides. Not only that, I like not having to be tied down to anything. I can get jobs as I like and do as I please, most of the time anyways," he explained, paying for a fare and hopping on the express train. Alfredo kept following him. Omega gave him a strange look, but kept silent.

Alfredo caught on to his strange look, "I know you don't like joining sides, but please, just hear me out-"

"Look, I'm on a mission right now, and I'd appreciate a little quiet until I get there, okay?"

"Fair enough."

The ride passed in silence, the train rocking and bumping gently as it passed over the tracks. Staring out at the scenery passing by, Omega took the rare opportunity to relax. He sighed as the beautiful countryside passed by at a frenetic pace, still not quite used to desert wastelands not being at every turn. But the peace didn't last, and they were soon at Omega's stop. As he got up and left, so did Alfredo.

"You really don't need to follow me, you know," Omega shot at him.

"No, but there's something I wanted to give to you before we part ways again. Besides, what's the harm? I've got some spare time, and there are other missions I'd like to ask you about."

"Whatever, just stay out of my-" Omega started, stopping suddenly as he caught sight of the sign to the facility. A cyber elf was scribbling all over it, and had covered up two of the words on the sign. It now read "Dr. Karo's Cyber facility".

"-Way... oh hell, what now?" Omega dashed forward, depositing the box of spice in Alfredo's hand as he went. Alfredo watched him go, then turned to look at the obscure (obscene?) reference on the sign.

"This ought to be interesting..." he mused as the front door was opened.

Omega stared at the carnage inside. Emerald was tied and gagged on the table, cyber elves flying this way and that with wild abandon. One with a pair of sharp looking swords was being chased by Opal, while another was giggling and gripping a ceiling fan, rotating it faster as the twins screamed for mercy on top of it. Baby elves cried for food, but the girls couldn't get to them because they were being harassed by larger elves. Food was splattered all over the walls. Amethyst and Diamond rocketed past, chasing down two more elves rather unsuccessfully. Then the whole shebang just stopped dead. Everyones' eyes crept towards Omega, the only break in the chaos.

His eyes shadowed and not turning away from the audience, Omega slowly put his hand on the door handle behind him, pushing it back to where it belonged. The door closed with a soft click. Outside, Alfredo covered his ears as the world seemed to explode.

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE! I LEAVE FOR THIRTY FUCKING MINUTES AND THIS IS WHAT I COME BACK TO? USELESS, PATHETIC IMBECILES! WHAT HAPPENED TO TAKING CARE OF THESE DATA-FILLED DIPSHITS? AND YOU GODDAMN LITTLE INGRATE CYBER ELVES, IF YOU DON'T START CLEANING THIS PLACE UP IN 5 SECONDS I'LL-!"

Judging by the flurry of noise and movement from inside the house, no one was interested in finding out the rest of his sentence. Looking through a window, Alfredo saw wide-eyed cyber elves and gang members alike scurrying as fast as possible to comply with Omega's demands, cleaning the walls, rescuing the twins, or whatever else they could to avoid the fury-filled tyrant. The door slammed open as three elves raced to the sign, scrubbing furiously away at the graffiti the moment they got there. From his vantage point, Alfredo spotted Omega just before he went further into the house to command the others. His normally uncaring visage was etched with rage, his teeth seemed longer and sharper, and his hair, he could have sworn, was puffing out with energy. Alfredo was very glad he was on the other side of Omega's visual radius; the guy, he was sure, could go off on a killing spree any minute.

Sitting down, he rummaged through a pack at his side. Taking out a thermos, Alfredo unscrewed the cap and poured the hot drink from inside the thermos into it. The cyber elves kept cleaning away as Alfredo sipped the liquid gingerly.

"Nothing like a good ole' spot of tea," he sighed to himself, continuing to watch the occupants of the research facility through the window.

Another half hour later, Alfredo peered over his shoulder at a scientist running up the path. The scientist stopped beside him, puffing.

"Would you be Dr. Karo?" asked Alfredo. He nodded, leaning forward, still gasping too hard to answer properly.

After catching his breath a bit more, Dr. Karo straightened up and looked over at the raider, "Hello there... Uh... whatever your name is... huff... Where are you from?"

After another sip of tea, he responded, "Oh, nowhere in particular. I was just discussing job opportunities with one of the members of the group in there."

"You were? How proactive of you... hack, hurf!" Dr. Karo began coughing, so Alfredo offered him some of his tea. After a few gulps (it was much cooler now), he continued, "I suppose things must have gone well for them if they were idle enough to talk with others."

After taking back his cup, Alfredo screwed it back on the empty thermos, "Well, actually, it was a bit hectic not long ago. I guess after the one I was talking with left to get something, the elves went a little nuts."

"Oh dear, not again! Every time I have to head out, they cause a huge mess! I'd hoped getting a group of babysitters would've worked this time, but I guess not... Huhh, time to go assess the damages..." he groaned, reluctantly walking up to the stairs. Opening the door, it was clear that he expected the worst of the worst. And judging by his face, what he saw was not what he expected.

Everything inside the house was spotless. None of the mess from earlier was anywhere to be seen. All of the older elves were sitting in corners, silent as can be. The babies were all being fed by the gang, and all of the toys that were usually scattered about the house were neatly tucked away in their boxes. Overseeing the whole thing was a very solemn looking Omega. Whichever way he turned, elves quickly averted their gazes. He kept pacing tirelessly around the house, with nothing escaping his keen eyes. As Dr. Karo entered, Omega turned to look at him.

"You're back early," he said. Karo blinked in surprise, then let out a nervous laugh.

"Aheh... it's clean..."

"Yes, it's clean. I made sure of _that_, now, didn't I?" Omega sneered, glancing over at the group of elves nearest the door.

"Yes sir, you certainly did, sir," they chorused dejectedly. Alfredo came up behind Dr. Karo, taking out the box of spice.

"By the way, I think this was for you, wasn't it?" he looked over at Omega, who nodded. Karo took the box, looking at Omega skeptically.

"Why this? I thought I had some already," he asked.

Omega frowned for a second, "Well, you did, but I accidentally dropped it. My apologies, but I got you some to replace it, so no harm done, hmm?"

"No, no, of course not. Thank you for replacing it," Dr. Karo replied. He took the box into the kitchen, then walked over to Diamond. "You are the leader of this group, correct? I believe I owe you some money," reaching into his pocket, the scientist took out $500. After handing it to Diamond, he picked up one of the elves. "Thank you for your excellent service. Perhaps another time?"

"Perhaps. Well, mission is over gang, time to head home," interrupted Omega. The group left, Omega watching them go. Just as he was about to do so himself, Alfredo handed him a business card.

"Any time you'd like a job, or just a mission, feel free to call us," he smiled, then turned and headed towards the train station. Omega followed without another peep, leaving Dr. Karo standing in the door way with the elf. He shut the door, then went inside.

"Well well, I'm certainly surprised at you all! You behaved so well! Perhaps the next time I need to go out you'd like me to invite them back-"

"NO!" they screamed. Karo stopped suddenly as one of the adult elves flew in front of him.

"Please dad, don't let the scary man come back! He... he... he disciplined us! We'll be good from now on, just don't let him come back, ever! Please dad, we'll be good, promise! Please!" All the other elves yelled I agreement, setting up a cacophony of noise. Dr. Karo was left scratching his head as the mischievous little elves all promised to always be good.

X X X

At home in the apartment, Omega flopped down instantly on the couch. Less than a millisecond later, he was asleep. The gang tiptoed into the room behind him, cautiously watching his position.

"I think he's insane, you know that? One minute he's dead to the world, the next, he's ready to rip it to shreds!" muttered Ruby, keeping her voice down so as not to disturb the red demon.

"He'll probably be as bright as a bumblebee tomorrow," Diamond complained.

Opal shook her head, "Nah, he's the strong, silent type. Guys like that do their level best not to show others how they feel."

"He certainly doesn't seem to care-"

"-About showing others when he's angry."

"Yeah, I know! He's bloody worse than Diamond!"

"Hey! I heard that!"

"Wait, say that again..." Amethyst said strangely.

"I heard that?"

"No, not that! I wasn't talking to you! I meant the "bloody worse than Diamond" thing! Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Amethyst looked around at everyones face. Apparently, by their looks, they didn't.

"Go on, tell us what you're thinking," Diamond encouraged. Amethyst obliged.

"Well, remember how he said he was a fighter? When Ruby said "he's bloody worse than Diamond", it got me thinking about his name. Have you guys ever heard of a blood diamond? They're supposed to be diamonds that are sold to pay for war efforts, or red diamonds that are extremely rare. Now, he was kind of a "diamond in the rough" when he came and saved our butts from those elves-"

"Even though he yelled at us, too."

"Alright, even though he yelled at us, too. I'm just saying that he came out of nowhere with that commanding tone, and none of us were expecting it, that's for sure! And I dare one of you to want to go and fight him. Here's what I'm saying, guys. Why don't we call him Blood Diamond? That's one gem we haven't used yet!" he finished, grinning. The other members pondered the name, but Diamond quickly came up with a reason why not.

"Amethyst, as fitting as a name it is, it's still a bit too much like my own to go calling him in public. Besides, we're good guys, "Blood Diamond" just seems too nasty!"

"And it's pretty long as well. Maybe we could find something shorter?" Sapphire added.

"Or we could just shorten it," Amethyst shot back, "I mean, no one else has come up with a better name for him yet."

Silence. No one was able to argue with that. The twins looked at each other, then began voicing their thoughts.

"Well, if we shortened it to BD-"

"It wouldn't be so long-"

"And BD sounds a bit like beady!"

"And beady sounds like-"

"Bead! We could call him Bead!" they finished at the same time. High-fiveing each other, they turned to the others, smiling.

Diamond scratched his chin, "Bead _would_ be an okay name. Not too long, not nasty sounding, and short for Blood Diamond... what do you guys think?" he asked, turning to them. Each of them nodded, some more vigorously than others, but nevertheless, it was decided.

"Alright than, it's settled! His name is Bead!" Diamond pounded the kitchen counter triumphantly, then flinched. The others looked at him questioningly.

"Aheh... don't want to wake up Bead now, do we?" They all looked at him, sleeping peacefully (as much as a god of destruction can) on the couch.

"Yeah... let's wait till tomorrow to tell him," Amethyst said. The others all agreed.

* * *

Hiya! Quick note, the next update may take longer than usual, depending on what I decide to write. I may even write a chapter of Happy Birthday, if enough people ask me to. It _is_ starting to get close to the next Holiday! And we all know what holiday _that_ is!

Zero- "Shit."

Anyways, have fun! See ya next time!


	14. He walks among us

Disclaimer: I have mentioned who belongs to who for everyone else already, however, Teegee is a new creation of mine, so I guess I own him. Not that I care, really...

Oh, and I'm going to start (to try) using equal signs/X's to space between "author notes" and the story, 'kay? So don't say I didn't tell you!

* * *

Cameras flashed and clicked, excited murmurs and shouts ran through the crowds. The cameras lit up every corner of the room not filled illuminated from the dazzling fluorescent and neon lights scattered around the large room and decorated catwalk. Reporters gossiped to each other and to video recorders about the event they were at, and what was rumored or what they thought would happen. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, the crowd quieted down. Then, two lights started roving freely down from the area above the arena. The lights were like two letters, T and G. Without further ado, the crowds began their obligatory screaming. An announcer voiced a full-hearted introduction over the intercom.

"Ladiiiieeees and gentlemeeeeeeen, boooysss and giiirrls, welcome one and all, to the famous, fabulous, fantastic world of the new and the never before seen wonders of TG fashions! This is a once in a lifetime moment, for now, we introduce the one and only owner and designer of TG fashions! Please give a warm, no, a HOT round of applause for the man who designs it all! TEEGEEEEEE!"

The screaming tripled in volume. Cameramen strained to catch every moment of the excited crowds and the measured strides of the single man walking down the runway. He wore a long, voluptuous brick-red scarf that threatened to strangle him. His suit was a bright tan, with pointed shoulders and flaring sleeves and leg bottoms. His outfit was accessorised with dark brown, square shoes and overlarge, tinted brown sunglasses.

Teegee continued strutting down the runway, causing women to sigh and have to fan themselves vigorously to stay conscious. Then he reached the circular end of the catwalk and paused. The noise died instantly. With one slow, graceful movement, he reached up to his glasses, "This crowd..." he said with calm emphasis. Then, quick as a flash, he removed the glasses and aimed them towards the sky.

"Is fabulous!"

More raucous cheers followed the statement. They slowly died off as Teegee put his hand into his pocket, drawing out a microphone. By the time the object was hovering in front of his face, the crowds were silent.

"Thank you, thank you, one and all, thank you! It is an honour to be admired by so many of you abolutely _fashionable_ people. But of course, you are all so fashionable for one reason. By listening to me! For you, I will not disappoint! So now, I will announce this year's greatest fashion line ever! And this line stands out from the rest for one thing. Here, I will show you one of the greatest sights you will ever see..." he snapped his fingers. On hearing the sound, the curtains hiding the dressing rooms opened up, revealing a long line of fashion models, both male and female (but mostly female). They wove down the stage, showing off their clothes for all to see. Long sleeves and pants, flowing long hair, robes and capes, ruffles and flounces, intricate lace, and on and on... The crowds oohed and awed in amazement. Teegee posed dramatically with the microphone.

"This year, my fellow fashionistas, is all about length! Long, flowing, graceful length! This year, we're celebrating what it means to be truly wondrous. Show off those well cared for locks of hair, let your shirts and gowns flutter in the breeze! If the mega men can pull it off, then so can you! Let your true selves free! And above all, stay fabulous!"

Hoots, hollers and whistles of approval followed his statement. He bowed to his fans, then motioned for silence. The models stopped in their tracks, posing for the cameras. Teegee took a gulp of air, then continued.

"My fans, you have never let me down. Every fashion statement I make, you follow. Every year, you listen to my advice on how to be gorgeous. Every single one of you is a person to be looked up to. Because of this, I have decided to hold a contest unlike any other."

Gasps and murmers of wonder passed through the multitudes of people. Surely, they thought, whatever this contest was, it would be the most important contest in the world! The audience listened with bated breath as Teegee continued, "I have decided to randomly appear in several important locations around the globe. In each location, I plan to look for a new person to model in each one, to represent the people of that region! And the best of these models may very well be offered a permanent position in TG fashions! So dress to impress, 'cause I'll be out there looking for _you_!"

Joyous screams met his proposal. And so did the most important fashion contest ever (in their limited memories) begin.

X X X X X

Ashe looked around, quietly scanning her surroundings. All she saw was the bland inside of the hospital, along with the occasional machine. "Screw those stupid doctors and their _no vigorous activities_," she mimicked mockingly, "I'm getting the heck out of here!"

She kept on tip-toeing down the corridors, dodging the occasional night time nurse or doctor. Soft rays of moonlight crept in through the windows, almost causing Ashe's path to glow. Her feet made a satisfying rhythm as she moved, coaxing her to keep going. Snores from the occasional room interrupted the calm atmosphere, but only for a moment as she passed. Now in front of the elevator, she glanced around for signs of any other life. Seeing none, Ashe smiled.

"Looks like I'll be making a clean getaway!" she gloated. The door opened.

"APPARENTLY NOT." Siarnaq droned from the elevator's clean white interior. Ashe jumped, startled, but soon regained her composure.

"What in blazes are you doing here?" she hissed at him angrily.

Siarnaq straightened his posture, "RESPONSE: SURVEILLANCE OF SUBJECT ASHE."

"Pervert, you were going to spy on me!"

"SURVEILLANCE ASSIGNED BY MASTERS. MASTERS WERE CONCERNED ABOUT SUBJECT."

"And why the heck should they be worried about me? I'm a mega man, I can take care of myself!"

"PRIMARY RESPONSE; SUBJECT VALIDATED CONCERNS WITHIN SHORT TIME FRAME. SECONDARY RESPONSE; SUBJECT WAS INCAPABLE OF SELF PRESERVATION PREVIOUSLY, AS EXHIBITED BY SUBJECT'S PRESENCE IN HOSPITAL."

"You can just shut the hell up, you know that?"

"NEGATIVE."

Ashe fumed inwardly at her defeat. But there was no way she was just going to let the emotionless ninja make a fool of her. "Well, I'll have you know that the doctors think I'm well enough to be walking around on my own, so I see no reason why I have to stay in this rotten hospital any longer!"

"RESPONSE; I DO."

"Oh? And what might that be?" she snapped.

"SUBJECT IS WEARING INAPPROPRIATE ATTIRE."

Ashe gave him a confused look, then peered down at what she was wearing. It was a thin hospital gown, only covering from her shoulders down to her knees. Coupled with the slippers she had on, it wasn't exactly the best thing to wear in the outside world. Ashe snorted angrily, but stepped back.

"Okay wise guy, you win. I'll go back to my room. But don't you think you won't hear about this later!"

Siarnaq stepped out of the elevator, its door closing with a thud behind him. He held up the bag that he'd been hiding behind his back, "INPUT; SUBJECT MAY HEAD BACK TO HOSPITAL ROOM. I WILL INFORM HOSPITAL STAFF OF OUR DEPARTURE. YOU WILL BE ESCORTED OFF THE PREMISES WITHIN POINT FIVE HOURS."

Ashe grimaced, "_Now_ you tell me." She rudely snatched the bag out of his hand, then stomped off towards her room. Siarnaq left in another direction to find one of the hospital's nurses.

Back at her room, as Ashe was changing clothes, she noticed a thick cross of stitching where her injury had occurred. She took a minute to marvel at how close it had been to her more vital areas. "Damn, it really was a close call, wasn't it?" she thought. Leaning to one side, she felt the ridge of healing flesh, wincing as pain shot through it. Then she remembered that Siarnaq was probably waiting for her. She grabbed a shirt out of the bag (it had been filled with some pretty boring outfits), flinging it on over her shoulders. There was also the matter of that one guy from before. The memories of all his actions flooded her mind briefly, from his multiple death threats to his unnaturally strong abilities. And then there was the fact of his precautions against anyone finding that he'd been there...

A knock sounded on her door. She tied her hair back as she yelled at the culprit, "Darnit Siarnaq, just give me a minute! I'm almost done!" After her hair was finished, she grabbed some slip on sandals from the bag and hopped over to the door while putting them on.

"SUBJECT WAS ALMOST LATE." he said as she opened it. Ashe rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, you can't expect me to just put on any old clothes you throw in a sack. Even if it _is_ late, I'm at least getting out of this place looking presentable!" she complained. After Siarnaq motioned her to follow him, they walked back towards the elevator. They headed towards the hospital's exit the moment the doors opened on the ground floor. Some of the other people in the lobby watched them as they left. After continuing on their way for a while, Ashe began to get suspicious.

"Siarnaq, where are we going, anyways? You said you'd get me out of there, but never mentioned the destination."

"RESPONSE; AWAY FROM CIVILIANS."

"And why would that be?" she asked. She was starting to get nervous.

Siarnaq looked around. The street they were on was completely empty save themselves. The lamps designed to light it up were failing, their glow only partially lighting up the lane. He turned around. "TO PREVENT THE PROPAGATION OF RUMORS. SUBJECT ASHE MAY HAVE INFORMATION THAT MASTERS HAVE DEEMED INAPPROPRIATE FOR CIVILIANS."

Ashe was intrigued, "And what info would that be?"

"INFORMATION DETAILING UNKNOWN PERSONS. SPECIFICALLY, SUBJECT THAT WAS WITH YOU DURING INCIDENT TWO NIGHTS PREVIOUS."

"So you want to know who was with me when I got hurt. Ashe summarized. Siarnaq nodded. "Well, honestly, I don't know. I know what he looked like, that's for sure, but he never gave me a name. As for anything else, well, I know he has a hangar where he keeps his ship. Also, I'd rather he not know that I told you. He was rather blunt about me saying anything to anyone. Said he'd "come finish the job", if you know what I mean."

"UNDERSTOOD. INFORMATION ACCEPTED." Siarnaq agreed.

"Why are you asking me, anyways? Shouldn't they have been able to figure out who he was from his footprints or whatever? I wanted to know that too, actually." she explained. Siarnaq glanced around again, as if he wasn't sure about if he should answer. But he did.

"MASTERS DEEMED INFORMATION DETAILING UNKOWN PERSONS INAPPROPRIATE TO PUBLIC BECAUSE FOOTPRINT NEGATIVE FOR SERIAL NUMBER."

"What? He had no serial number! No wonder he seemed so reluctant to get discovered," she reflected out loud, "and that's probably why the Masters don't want the public to know about him. A guy running around without serial numbers is really serious. Am I right?" she asked. Siarnaq nodded.

"AFFIRMATIVE. TESTIMONIES OF GREY AND OTHERS CONFIRM EXISTANCE OF UNKOWN PERSON. TWO WITNESSES IN PROTECTION PROGRAM SUGGESTED SURVEILLANCE OF TARGET, RATHER THAN ARREST. MASTERS CURRENTLY CONSIDERING."

"I getcha. To tell you the truth, I found something off with that guy as well. I want to have a little _chat_ with him later, to be frank." she told him secretively.

"AFFIRMATIVE. REQUESTING YOU ALLOW ESCORT WHEN SITUATION OCCURS." He replied.

Ashe gave him a sly look, "And who's asking me to do that? Legion? Or you?"

Siarnaq paused, contemplating. "RESPONSE; I AM," he admitted.

"So the mysterious ninja has revealed his curiosity. Can't say I blame you, the guy is quite the enigma," she teased. Siarnaq stared blankly at her, then began shifting his eyes to their surroundings. Ashe began to look around as well. The blanket of silence was immensely calming, even to her. But soon enough, she felt the need to speak again.

"So, what do we do now? Head back to Legion?"

"AFFIRMATIVE." Siarnaq responded.

X X X X X

"You want to call me WHAT!" Omega roared.

People jerked around, startled at the outburst. Birds flew to the air to escape, a wise choice. The dusty, friendly atmosphere of Hunter's camp had just been interrupted rather drastically. The Gem Gang had told him about the, in their opinion, smart decision. Apparently, the sentiment wasn't shared.

"I go on one mission with you guys, have to get your asses out of the fire, and what do you call me? BEAD! What the hell were you idiots thinking? I don't care _what_ it stands for, I never agreed to it! It's a stupid name!You know what, fuck this, I never agreed to be a part of your group, either! Sayonara, you lame-brained scrapheaps! I'm outta here!" With that, he stormed off. The Gem Gang was left to gape at his outburst, scrutinized by everyone not staring at the dark messiah as he disappeared into the distance.

"Oh, this is _so_ not over," Ruby growled. The rest of the group seemed to agree with her, and they began to follow Omega to try to talk some sense into him.

Omega noticed. However, he had a head start, and used it to his full advantage. Just as they lost sight of him around a corner, he gunned it full speed towards the nearest alley. Ducking into it, he raced out of their sights, fully intent on losing them once and for all. A few of the passer-bys in the main drag blinked, wondering if that blur they'd just seen meant that they should go get their eyes checked.

Several corners later, he let himself skid to a halt. The soundless loom of the alleys pressed in around him. He listened intently for any noise other than his own heavy breathing. Nothing. Omega's panting slowly ceased as he gulped in stale air, the result of few winds passing into the desolate space.

Still, nothing happened. He leaned against the nearest building, comforted by the dead silent world. Finally, if his luck held out, he would be free from that accursed bunch of idiots. What made them think they were so necessary to him, anyways? The fact that they found him in the desert? The couch they had in that cramped apartment of theirs? Or the simple fact they thought he was their friend? Fools.

Apart from those parasites, the desert had been no problem for him. And now that he had a hangar rented out, there was really no reason for him to need to go back. Then of course, the matter of friendship. A stupid notion, really. He didn't have or need any friends.

Omega chuckled. Wow, the alleys really got him thinking about his current situation. This was the second time that he'd had a deep reflection in them. He sighed, relaxing. Almost enjoying the silence, really. The only thing that he enjoyed more was the complete opposite of this, the screams of dead and dying people calling out piteously for help that would never come. Oh, how he _loved_ that sound. And the overwhelming presence of blood made it all the better.

Suddenly, he was more bored than relaxed. Not being one for idleness, he began searching around to decide which direction to go to. Then, by some fluke, he looked down. Down at the flawless, unmarked footprints in the dust.

And that's when he decided to go up.

"Shit shit shit shit!" he cursed, jumping as far up towards light as he could. Wall jumps, double jumps, and Static all contributed to his extremely high change of altitude in a minimal amount of time.

Omega's quiet place of refuge had suddenly become a place to avoid like the plague. The incriminating evidence he left behind, if found, could be directly linked to him if he was known to venture into the alleys. Even if he went back and erased the footprints from today, chances are he might not do it correctly and still be found (not to mention a cloud of dust floating from the alley might raise suspicions). And, curse his memory, he couldn't remember the path he'd traveled the first time he'd entered the alleys.

Now on top of a building, he scouted out for any witnesses. Most people were on the main drag, and the few oddballs that were on the roofs were way off in the distance, too far away to see him. A few more roof hops later, and he could see the entrance to the market, along with the Gem gang below. "Guess I'm not going that direction," he thought aloud. Another quick scan of the surroundings, and he noticed a tall building a few blocks to his left. "Well, that'll work."

Ten leaps later, he was on top. It had a high, pointed ceiling, complete with weather vane and a little cross tied onto it. Probably some religious kook had put it there, but who gave a damn? Able to observe the camp better from this vantage point, Omega peered around for crowds in which to hide himself. Better safe than sorry, both from the Gem Gang and anyone looking for the one who was making numberless footprints.

He was in luck. Apparently, there was some sort of event going on at the main plaza (he assumed that's what it was, anyways). Scores of people, it seemed, were crowding around something, or someone. He didn't really care what or who, but at least no one would notice one more face in the crowd.

Then he smiled, realizing what it might mean to do that. He, the devil reploid, was entering a crowd of ignorant, unaware, blissful people.

"As they used to say, the devil walks among us," Omega chuckled. Then off he went.

Minutes later, he arrived at the scene. He was mildly surprised to find that the people crowding around the "point of interest" were all screaming, fans judging by their calls' contents. After sliding down into another deserted alley (taking extreme care not to touch the ground), he emerged from it and sauntered over to the mass of civilians.

The volume of noise was almost deafening. Screeching, ecstatic men and women all jockeyed for a position closer to the center of the gathering. Omega, not wanting to be an obvious target on the outside, pushed past a few rows of people to become less conspicuous. Now in what seemed to be the middle rows, he glanced around for anyone that might have found his intrusion out of the ordinary. No one so much as looked his way. Which was perfectly alright to him.

An announcement belted out something over the PA system. Omega, too distracted by the crowds around him, didn't hear it. However, the people around him somehow did. They surged into a long, thin formation, as if lining up for inspection. For one short, clear moment, Omega was completely exposed, no longer hidden among the crowds. He realized this and dashed back into the groups of people, hoping that the event was of little consequence. But the damage was already done.

"STOP!" Someone yelled imperiously. Everyone did almost instantaneously, leaving Omega precious few seconds to immerse himself out of sight. One man, dressed in very odd attire, strode purposefully down the lane of people. Everyone tensed as he passed, seemingly hopeful that he'd notice them.

"I just saw the most _fabulous_ person among your ranks. I want them to step forth!" he demanded. On his jacket, two letters were extravagantly embroidered in flourishing script. T and G. The crowds looked among themselves, excitement brewed. Omega slowly crept to behind the two lines of people. Suddenly, this wasn't looking like the best place to fit in.

"There you are! We've been looking everywhere for you!" someone chided from behind him. He turned around just in time to see the Gem Gang storming up to him. Oh, this wasn't good. A quick glance behind him confirmed his suspicions about what the crowd would be doing, staring at him intently. A lamb in a field of wolves would be the best comparison.

Omega gulped visibly. "Crap..."

"That's him! That's the one! Bring him to me!" yelled Teegee. Omega found himself seized roughly and brought into the center of the lane. The Gem Gang, for some reason, backed right off, watching what was happening with interest.

"Look at that hair! Absolutely gorgeous, it flows in such a graceful way!" Omega found himself being poked and prodded, his hair held up for the world to see. Then, without further ado, his arm was grabbed and pulled out. "And those muscles, oh my! Such tone! I never thought it was possible in anyone less than a mega man, but you put those mega men to shame! How ever did you manage?"

Omega yanked his arm back from his assailant, turning and snarling at him, "You leave me alone! I won't stand to be treated like someone's lab rat! Go get your own specimen!"

The man stood back, his brick red scarf trailing his movements. Despite Omega's obvious anger at being disturbed, his eyes still ran up and down Omega's form. Other people followed his example, although a lot less intensely. "So that's how. You've got quite the attitude, hmm? Excellent, excellent! I, Teegee, approve! Grace and power, together in one person such as yourself. You are clearly representative of the boldness of Hunter's camp! And yet, you seem like the antisocial type. What brought you to my fashion show today?" he inquired, bringing out a notepad.

"The need to ditch some idiots and see what the hell was going on with this lot of no-brains here," Omega snapped, pointing at the crowd. Many of them bristled indignantly and booed.

"Tch tch, you're a rude one. Oh well. Mirvan, get the camera! I want to get a picture of this one before we take him to the studio!" Teegee yelled at one of his crew. Omega looked in the same direction that Teegee was, noticing the cameraman lifting up his camera, turning it on. It hadn't got a picture of him yet, but that wouldn't last long. So Omega did the first thing that came to mind.

Four crowd members behind him seemed to simultaneously drop flat on their backs as Omega bulled past them. He bolted down the street behind the crowd, not giving anyone a chance to get a picture of him. His need to stay low wouldn't allow that.

Teegee and his company stood dumbstruck at his sudden departure.

"I guess he's a bit camera shy..." one of them noticed. Teegee took immediate action.

"Camera shy models will never slow down TG fashions! After him!" he roared. His whole crew, twenty in all, began chasing Omega. The only others that followed were the Gem Gang. The rest left to do other things.

X X X X X

Pandora, Prometheus, Siarnaq and Ashe trotted around the camp, looking for their target. By a stroke of luck, they'd met at the front gate at the same time. Dust blew in from the wastelands as they chatted animatedly about the mysterious, silver haired reploid.

"So what do you guys think of him? I think he's a jerk," Ashe blabbed. Siarnaq shrugged while Pandora came to her crushes' defense.

"Come on, give the guy a chance. I know he's rough on the outside, but I'm sure he's nice enough once you get to know him," she insisted. Ashe grinned at her mischievously.

"So you're the ones who suggested that he be investigated before he was arrested. I thought it was you!" Ashe beamed, gloating over her discovery.

Prometheus admitted, "Yup, it was us. Me and, ahem, White here." He elbowed his sister playfully. She smacked him back, and they started a miniature battle with each other.

"INQUIRY; SURVEILLANCE OF UNKNOWN TARGET LESS EFFECTIVE THAN ARREST. WHY WAS SURVEILLANCE SUGGESTED?" Siarnaq asked. Prometheus looked over from his head-locked sister to answer.

"Well, to be honest, the look in his eyes was kinda like the one we used to have. Judging by that, the poor guy has probably been through a lot more than we think. And if he's still so negative towards others, even if he is free, than it might be better to have him on our side, rather than against it."

Pandora broke free of her brother's hold, giving him a restrained punch to the back of his head, "Besides, it's like you said earlier, there's something else odd about him. If what you said was true about how he got to a place only you should have been able to get to, then it's for the best that we figure out what he's capable of before charging in to grab him. Who knows, he could be just as strong as any of us," she finished. The siblings resumed their jousting.

"Yeah right, the only person as strong as a mega man _is_ a mega man. I wouldn't be surprised if he had enhanced abilities, but be able to defeat one of us? Fat chance!" Ashe scoffed.

"AFFIRMATIVE," Siarnaq agreed. They kept walking and pondering to each other about what the target was capable of. Several minutes later, however, their musings were stopped short by a figure belting past them at impossibly high speeds (for a regular person, anyways).

"What was that?" Ashe gawked. They noticed the figure's silver hair flash around a corner.

"Wait a minute, the guy we're after has silver hair! Let's go-"

"GET HIM!" interrupted a bellowing call. The group of mega men had just enough time to leap out of the way as a small horde of people pounded past, determined to catch up to Omega. All of them stared in partial disbelief as they went.

"Geezes, I leave that guy alone for two days and what does he do? Goes and gets himself into a load of trouble!" Ashe pouted, upset at being nearly run over.

"INPUT; SUBJECT'S CAPACITY FOR INVOLVING HIMSELF IN DIRE SITUATIONS APPEARS TO EXCEED SUBJECT ASHE'S," Siarnaq added. They got up slowly, rubbing at sore spots.

"Looks like we've got some competition if we're gonna get him alone," Prometheus groaned. The group sighed collectively, then set to the task of gaining a solitary interview with the red demon.

X X X X X

Omega ducked around another corner, skidding as he did so. Grooves were worn in the ground as he attempted to regain his footing, dust flying from his boots. He began running at top speed again, quickly peeking behind himself for any close followers. At the pace he was going, it seemed that no one was able to keep up. However, as he looked back in front of him, a rogue group that had split from the main one cut off his exit down the main drag.

"There! Told you it'd work!" one of them howled. Omega had to halt his hectic pace immediately, but his momentum begged to differ. He'd been going so fast that he was forced to use his hands as well as his heels to stop moving. A nice cloud of grit was flung into the air, providing him a small "smokescreen" with which to consider his optional routes of escape.

Omega's hair almost cracked the air as he desperately searched for another exit. The sounds of the main group began to come around the corner, so with no other way out, he had to take an alley. He scrambled to get up, and had just disappeared into it when those on his tail spotted him.

Now back at full speed, Omega navigated the narrow passages with as much caution as he could spare. To round a corner, he had to jump onto the opposite wall and leap into the passage. The G-forces were immense, but he'd been built with endurance in mind. After an uncountable amount of dodges through the alleys, he found himself back on a larger road. The sounds of pursuit were still loud behind him. This time, he saw no other alleys to duck into, and the road he was on was straight with only two ends. And by the sounds of it, either end was about to be filled up by those chasing him.

Only one option was left. Since it was obviously not running, it'd have to be hiding. Glancing around, he saw a tall building, possibly an abandoned church or museum, and ran towards it. He threw the thick doors wide open, and was lucky to find no one inside. Searching for a place to wait out the crowd, he happened to glance up. A glass covered chandelier hung about ten meters up (thirty feet?). The rest of the establishment looked tarnished and old. Omega charged up his Heat Launch, then jumped at the chandelier. Grabbing at the chandelier, he found that the shaft holding it up (the only thing reasonably large enough to hold his weight) was slick. His hand slipped. He activated Static just before he fell off, managing to keep his hold. As he swung himself to the top of the chandelier, a single glass piece launched off, landing with a small crash at the front door.

The group outside heard it. They saw that the door had been opened, and rushed over to it. Omega grimaced and held his breath as the place he was hiding in was suddenly filled with every person that was chasing him. They milled about, scrutinizing every square inch of the room, except, thankfully, the ceiling.

He just hoped it stayed that way.

X X X X X

Pandora was huffing and panting heavily as she and the other mega men finally caught up to the mass. Shoving herself into the cramped space, she gazed around to see if she could find their target, but with little luck. No one else in the room seemed to be able to find him, either. As she dove in further, her shoe crunched against something on the floor. She glanced down out of reflex, then did a small hop to get off of the glass.

She peered around the room. Strangely enough, there was nothing in the place that was made of glass, or anything else similarly breakable. Still, she pushed in farther, the others following her, hoping to get a better glimpse. Some of Teegee's men left to see if the building was just a distraction.

Nothing, however, showed up. More and more people started peering around outside. However, Pandora still had the oddest feeling about this place. She glanced back at the spot where the glass was, then had a sudden hit of inspiration. She looked up.

Omega was still holding his breath, clutching the chandelier as if it were a life line. He was also looking around to see if anyone had yet gotten smart. Pandora looked back down before he could see her. She poked her brother, who looked at her with curiosity. She discreetly pointed up, then pointed at the other mega men. Her brother got the message.

"There he goes!" proclaimed Prometheus, pointing victoriously out the door. Everyone in attendance snapped their attentions to the spot he was indicating, and although no one was there, they felt the collective urge to sprint in the general direction. The siblings grabbed the other mega men as they tried to rush forwards, making a shushing sign at their indignant looks.

Within seconds, the last person was out the door. After waiting a minute for the pursuers to run in whatever direction was available, Pandora and Prometheus grabbed the doors and shut them. The thud was loud, but ignored by everyone else. Ashe gestured angrily towards the pair.

"Alright, what's the meaning of this?" she demanded. Pandora merely grinned, then spoke.

"Okay, we know you're up there, you can come down now."

Her comment caused the whole group to look up. Omega looked down, realizing his luck had just run out. Prometheus and Siarnaq's eyes went wide at the red demon's position.

"SUBJECT'S CURRENT SITUATION IMPROBABLE," the ninja said uncharacteristically. Prometheus merely nodded in agreement.

Omega scowled. Of all the people to discover him, it was that nosy bunch from before the lockdown. "Make me," he snarled. He did notice, however, that there was the Model P mega man with them.

Ashe drew her gun, "Are you sure, buddy? I hate to be the one to point it out, but the sound of a crashing chandelier is more than likely to grab the attention of those outside again," she smirked.

Before anyone could react, Omega had his own weapon drawn. His sword, which was currently in gun mode (his weapon could transform) was aimed at Ashe. "And the sound of a falling chandelier would undoubtedly be followed by the sound of a screaming girl."

Ashe smirked, sheathing her weapon, "Well, you're certainly trigger happy."

"I have to be. Mercenaries tend to have a lot of enemies, and someone like you certainly can't be considered a friend," he taunted. Adjusting his position to face those below him, Omega sheathed his own weapon as well, "So, what do you want? You've never come to me once and not nagged me for some thing or other."

"RESPONSE; INTERROGATION OF TARGET."

Omega looked down at Siarnaq skeptically, "Whatever. Why should I talk to you? I have a right to remain silent, if I so wish," he crossed his arms, showing his stubbornness.

Pandora stepped forward, a sly look on her face, "And that you do. However, I think you fail to realize the gravity of the situation you're in right now."

"Ha ha, very funny. In case you haven't noticed, I am defying gravity right now, and so have no need to fear it," he grinned smugly. Pandora shrugged, walking over to the door.

"Too bad. Oh well, I guess there's nothing for it," she sighed, opening the door a crack. She took in a gulp of air and-

"Wait, what are you doing?" Omega asked. Pandora turned around to him.

"What does it look like? If you don't feel like talking to us, then maybe you'll talk to the ravenous crowd outside," she teased. Again, she turned to yell, but Omega cut her off.

"NO! Don't! Don't let them in here!" he hissed. Pandora giggled maniacally, he had a weakness!

"What, afraid of a little ole' crowd? Or maybe the cameras they have? Whatever it is, they'll be over here in ten seconds flat if I so much as say one word. So start talking, mister, or I will!" she threatened. Omega was infuriated, but knew that she had a point.

"Look, I can see that you're curious about me. Unfortunately for you, I'd rather die fighting than tell anyone about myself," Omega stated. None of the mega men seemed particularly pleased about this. He sighed in momentary defeat, looks like he'd have to do something drastic. "Tell you what. I won't reveal anything about myself, but I'll make you a deal. I'll do you a favor if you let me stay anonymous. It's a win-win deal, really!"

The mega men seemed to be considering this. The one he'd been negotiating with seemed particularly pleased about this offer, and beckoned the others to a huddle. Several low murmurs and whispers later, the gray haired one was laughing and slapping her thighs while the shadow mega man nodded and the red haired one patted his sister approvingly on her back. Omega didn't like it one bit.

"Very well, your offer is accepted," she called up. Omega was relieved, but only momentarily. "By the way, my name is White."

"White? Odd name, but I don't see why it's of any relevance," Omega said. The look from her in response chilled Omega.

"Of course it's relevant. The favor you're going to give us..." she grinned evilly, sending minor chills up Omega's spine, "is that you're going out on a date with me."

Omega gaped at her, and was so shocked that he forgot to keep Static going and crashed to the floor. "WHAAAAT! he roared. Ashe and Prometheus blinked in surprise.

"I said a date-"

"There's no way I'm going out on a date with you! No fucking way! I will not go out on a date with whatever random bitch asks me out! I'd rather go to hell and take a bath in a boiling cauldron of tar!"

"Such a shame..." Pandora sighed. She leaned back, opening the door even wider, "Oh, guys!" she said tauntingly. Omega raced forward, grabbing her and dragging her back.

"No no no NO! Stop that!" he pleaded. Pandora left the doorway, closing it.

"Well, sorry, but I won't stop unless you agree. And I get to choose the location, got it?" she commanded. Omega seethed as she smiled innocently. But what choice did he have? Then he had a thought.

"Look, I know you want to go out on a date with me, but there's another reason we can't. I haven't got any money, and considering how it's usually customary for the guy to pay for the first date, it wouldn't work out so well, now would it?" he pointed out. Omega thought that his argument would work, but apparently not.

"Fine then. We'll have our date the day after tomorrow, giving you some time to get a mission and make some money. I'll meet you at your hangar in the morning." Pandora gloated. Omega was left stuttering for a counter as the mega men walked out of the room. Pandora was last, and right before she closed the door, she blew him a little air kiss. He stood, silent, for what seemed like hours after the door finally closed. Complete silence engulfed the room. Then, he went berserk.

The first move he did was to pound his fist into the wall. It passed right through, leaving a large hole. Then he slashed at the decaying siding with his bare fingers, scoring it with innumerable gashes. More walls were punched, metal support bars were ripped bodily from their holdings. A railing from a staircase was smashed and scattered everywhere across the floor. Even the staircase went, ripped and gutted from the ground. He howled demoniacally, the sound sending a small mouse mechaniloid scampering for safety. It never got there. Omega grabbed it, ripping the poor thing in half. Another raging battle cry bounded around the room, echoing his rage. The chandelier jerked from the ceiling, it's movement clashing together the glass decorations in a unholy cacophony. Omega looked up, just in time, to see it drop right on top of him.

He leaped out of the way as it hit the ground, shattering into a million pieces. Three of the larger ones impaled themselves in his back. The rest were fortunately too thin to do any more harm. Omega got up, looking around at the desecrated grandeur of the chandelier, it's glass covering the floor like a crystal carpet. His rage emptied from his systems, leaving him hollow and tired. He walked haltingly over to a ripped cushion from an antique style couch (which he must've destroyed without realizing it). After brushing off the glass, he sat down. Omega plucked the shards from his back, flinging them carelessly over at the mouse mechaniloid's carcass. Then he brought out his gun, shooting every drop of blood, his or the mouse's. No evidence was left after the last plasma blast fired.

This time, hours did pass. Omega only left the building when the shadows in Hunter's camp began to take up more territory than the last rays of light from the sun. He headed towards his hangar, and once inside, locked all the doors and windows. After closing the blinds, he leaned against one of the legs of his ship. Omega fell asleep.

* * *

Siarnaq watched as Omega shut the windows. He was megamerged and crouched on top of the next hangar over, surveying his prey. After another hour of nothing happening, he decided to go back to the old building to see what had been done. After they'd left the building, Ashe and Prometheus had congratulated Pandora, and they all elected to go somewhere to celebrate her victory. Only Siarnaq had decided not to go, after all, someone had to start surveying the unknown person. Still, he offered his praise (in his own way) to Pandora for getting the guy into that situation. It would be much easier to investigate him if she took him somewhere Legion controlled.

Now, as Siarnaq leaped back towards the establishment, he watched those below him. Those that were previously after Omega now were all over the place, having given up on finding him long ago. Some birds fluttered by to get to their roosts.

Siarnaq arrived at the building quickly. As he hopped down into the alley, he noticed the hole in the wall. As he snuck around to the front, he noticed shattered pieces of glass littering the ground.

He opened the door, quickly turned around, and backed up into the place while closing the door. Then, as he looked around at the interior, his eyes opened wide in shock. Omega's fury had done more than just break a few things, as he had expected. Instead, it had decimated everything possible.

"'Tis like the work of a demon," his biometal said. Siarnaq heartily agreed. He strode further to the center of the room, noticing the full extent of the damage. Shards crunched underfoot as he stopped at the mechaniloid carcass, its plasma blasted body failing to hide its true death. Siarnaq gulped, then looked to a metal bar not far away.

He went over and picked it up. One end was snapped, and it didn't take long for the ninja to find out from where, a support bar in the wall. Now curious, Siarnaq attempted to bend the metal to test its strength. It took all his might, even though he was megamerged, to snap it similar to how Omega did.

"A DEMON INDEED." Siarnaq replied. Even though he was the most level-headed of the mega men, Omega's wrath had him afraid.

"We should inform the Masters immediately," Model P stated. Siarnaq nodded, then dashed out and towards the teleporter station on the other side of Hunter's camp.

The God of Destruction was being unearthed.

X X X X X X X X X X

Oops, looks like I ran out of time to proof-read! If you see any mistakes, please mention them politely, and I will deal with them. Thank you for reading!


	15. Surveillance and slaughter

Omega- "Alright, it's been two months since a new chapter of Happy Anniversary has been posted, so I'm here to fix that. Normally the chimaera would be doing this intro thing, but she's coincidentally bound to a computer and gagged right now, so you'll have to settle for me. All characters are copyright of their respective owners, and Scorzon and Iggy belong to aforementioned author slave, er, chimaera.

SubZeroChimera- "Mmmmfff!"

Omega- "So here you are, at the author's next installment of this story (which I obviously did not force her to do by pressing my gun to her head). Please enjoy!"

**EX Skill notice**- Remember that attack where Omega slashes a fiery wave upwards? I'm going to call that Burning Sky Blade (which I'm actually sure is somewhat accurate).

* * *

The light of morning was fresh and virgin. It cautiously crept forwards, forcing the night to back away. Somewhere in Legion, around a circular table, every single mega man still in existence sat, silent and solemn. Both Masters, Thomas and Mikhail, were also there. Siarnaq's tale had finished hours ago, the implications of it still heavy in the minds of all. Discussions of what should be done, however, raged on.

"I still say we should just grab the bastard while he's asleep and put him in a cell! If you're all so worried about him, then just lock him up!" Atlas raged.

"It wouldn't be that easy," Aeolus pointed out, "or have you forgotten already? He ripped out and snapped a metal wall beam that _Siarnaq_ could barely break! He's at least as strong as us mega men-"

Thetis cut in, "That's a load of bull and you know it, Aeolus! The whole building was old, the support beam was weakened from age! No one can be as strong as a mega man, and that's that! Only thing that can come remotely close are pseudaroids, and seeing as none of us has ever been bested by one, even they are no match. Mega men are-"

"Impervious? Undefeatable? _Immortal_? Gods, you sound just like Albert." sneered Ashe. All of the arguers stopped immediately at the mention of the heretical name. Ashe, quiet until now because of her injury, was done being only a witness. "Look, Thetis, all of you in fact, I learned my lesson not one week ago. We mega men are nowhere _near_ being untouchable. I hate to be the one to say it, but I nearly_died_ because I got cocky and thought the world couldn't lay a finger one me. Guess what? It did. What's to say that this guy isn't as powerful as us? He doesn't have biometal from what we know, but then again, what _do_ we know? Masters, you haven't told us it yet, but I can tell from the look on your faces. You checked every database in existence for data on him and found nothing, didn't you?"

All of the mega men turned expectantly to the Masters. Nodding regrettably, Thomas confirmed her suspicions.

"Yes. Despite our searches, nothing has come up in any government databases, not even ours. The only information we have is intel gathered from the hunters around Hunter's Camp. Even then, the earliest anyone knows anything about him is from the day after the Ouroboros crashed. It's quite disturbing, to say the least."

"Yeah, not knowing where he's from, who built him, when he was built, hell, not knowing if he's even a reploid or not! And then he goes and decimates a building just because he got angry... it's a good thing we decided to survey him first," Vent put in.

"Speaking of which," Grey asked, "wasn't Pandora going to do some sort of surveillance with him tomorrow?"

Everyone looked at him for a second, unsure of what he meant. Then Pandora giggled.

"Oh, you're talking about our date, aren't you?"

"You got a _date_ with him?" Aeolus asked, slightly shocked.

Prometheus scowled, "Yes, she did. But after hearing about what happened shortly after that to that old building, I'm not so sure you should go out on it any more, sis. He's way too dangerous!"

"I'll be alright, brother, I can take care of myself. Besides, if I tell him that I'm in a witness protection program, he won't be as willing to try anything. In case you haven't noticed, he likes to stay under the radar. I'm pretty sure that the thought of having the law out for his head because he killed the wrong person wouldn't be so appealing to him."

"But still-" he protested.

"Come on Prometheus, quit being such a worry wart. It's just a date!" Pandora smiled. Her brother grumbled under his breath, but remained largely silent. Aile laughed.

"My god, I never thought I'd see the day that rash ole' Prometheus could be called a _worry wart_! Ahahahaha!" She kept laughing, and it caught on. Soon all but two in the room were chortling. Everyone's worry seemed to lift away, and eventually, even Prometheus snickered a bit.

"'Tis a bit uncharacteristic of me, isn't it?" he joked. The group kept laughing for a while, until their jolly mood was interrupted by Siarnaq's emotionless voice.

"INQUIRY; WHAT IS RECOMMENDED SURVEILLANCE SCHEDULE FOR SUBJECT UNKNOWN?"

The happy mood left instantly. Even though his name wasn't yet known by the mega men, the mere mention of Omega sapped away all happiness. Mikhail coughed.

"Well, I think the best thing to do would be to work in shifts. Siarnaq, you're good at surveillance. Perhaps you wouldn't mind taking the night shifts? We could rotate the day ones amongst everyone else."

Siarnaq nodded immediately. He loved the night, when no one else was about (not that anyone else knew that). The others thought for varied periods of time, then agreed as well.

"Well then, it's settled. We'll begin organizing the shifts right now."

X X X X X

Birds twittered gaily as Omega awoke. Stiffly he moved his neck from its awkward position on the _Harbinger_'s leg, blinking against the air in the dark hangar. Ever so slowly, he rose from his position, stretching his metallic frame to loosen his unyielding joints. He walked to the nearest window, grasping the tattered curtains. He opened them with a swish to let in the light of day.

The bright rays did more than let themselves in. They assaulted Omega promptly, forcing him to back off from their glare. He shut the curtains quickly. There was too much light outside for it to be early morning. Just how long had he slept?

Omega began pacing worriedly. His internal clock said that it was sometime just before noon. Even if he managed to find a good-paying job before too long, how much time would it take to complete? Damn that White... His fists clenched in anger and worry. Wait a minute... Why didn't he just drop her flat? She'd forced him into this date, so why should he bother putting up with her? He grinned, but then the grin faded. She knew where he lived, and if he didn't show up to the date, no doubt she would cause living hell for him. After two hundred years of solitude, Omega had no clue how he would be able to deal with the complete opposite without going nuts. Which was always fun, he supposed, but the consequences after that probably wouldn't be.

He sighed heavily, growling to the heavens blocked from his view by the ceiling of the hangar. He paced some more, fully aware that every step he took was one step further away from reaching his goal. He grimaced, angry at himself for being so out of ideas. With a _clunk_, he fell against the side of his home, leaning to think more clearly. Not being one for thinking, however, he began fiddling around with things from the vaguely visible _un_-bloodstained parts of his shirt, to the various pockets on his slightly ripped pants. Nuts, he'd be needing more clothes soon... And what would that cost?

Omega's hands slipped inside of the two main pockets. It had cost him around $75 for his last outfit, maybe if he had any money left after the date-

He leaped with surprise as if he'd been bit. Omega put his hand back into his pocket, trying to figure out what the strange object in it was. Bringing it out, he saw that it was, of all things, the card that Alfredo had given him.

Omega's mind was made up instantly as he read the information on the piece of plastic. Now all he needed was to contact the raider without alerting any authorities. No doubt the market would be a great place for that! Too many people for any of them to be worried about what he was doing, all he had to do was "borrow" a communicator for a couple of minutes and Alfredo would be over to pick him up.

Putting the card back into his pocket, Omega double checked that all of the hangar's windows were locked before he left. As he closed the door behind him, he resolved o get a proper padlock for it. When he turned to head, he saw a glimpse of something on the rooftop opposite his hangar.

Omega's instincts went into alert mode immediately. He stared t the roof for a minute, then resolved to let whatever it was there be. It could've been a bird, but if it wasn't, he was fully ready for it. As he trotted down the dusty road towards the market, he looked at whatever reflective surface he could find in hopes that it would reveal his stalker. Only once did it work. It was enough for him, though, and he increased his speed.

Once the stalls began to come into view, Omega immersed himself into the crowd around them as fast as possible. Then the game began. Whoever was watching him had to have been one the one building nearest the market, in which case they only had one viewpoint. And if they hadn't lost sight of him already, would be hard pressed to spot him. Cautiously making his way closer and closer to the center of the market, he watched for any big crowds in which to immerse himself.

It didn't take long for Omega to find one. As he played around with the contents of a hat store, a group of giggling teenagers headed his way. Omega looked at the hats, noticing their low price. He picked up a black one, then paid the clerk just as the girls were coming near them. Just as they arrived he kicked a rock discreetly into the stall beside him. The clang distracted the clerk. Omega swiftly switched the black hat for, of all colours, a pink one, put it on, bent his knees, and slipped unnoticed into a small space in the group of teenagers. The exchange took about three seconds total, and the stupid girls clamoring with each other hadn't noticed. For several minutes he walked with them, keeping his height shortened the whole time. Another opportunity suddenly presented itself. He rolled, taking off the hat and arriving behind an unattended stall at the same time. Glancing around for any witnesses, of which there were none, he sat and began looking at the goods hidden in the stall.

Omega's eyes scanned the various goods, none of which were very interesting. Rifling through the items in case he missed anything, he spotted the corner of a communicator peeking out from under a garment of some sort. In only a few seconds, Omega had grabbed it, dialed Alfredo's number, and was talking to him.

"Hello, this is Alfredo. Who is-"

"It's me, Alfredo, so let's cut the niceties and get to the missions," Omega snapped.

Alfredo blinked, confused, before he realized what was happening. "Oh, it's you! Well, I wasn't expecting you to call us for a job so quickly! Is something the matter?" he asked.

"You could say that. But like I said, let's get to the missions. Got any that will pay well and be relatively quick?"

"Well, for you, anything can pay well. And quick, well, let's see..." Alfredo muttered. He went off screen for a moment, then reappeared with Scimitar right beside him.

"Hey, look who it is!" Scimitar roared happily, "My favorite mercenary! You've got good timing, mate!"

"Yeah yeah, long time no see and all that shit. You look great and all, but I'd _really_ like to quit the chit-chat and get a mission, alright?" Omega complained.

"All business, eh? That's what makes you so great. Tell you what, one of our new rival raider bands has got a weapons factory under their control, and, well, we'd like to be the ones controlling it instead. It's in a remote location, so we'll fly your squad and you to it. You can't use the teleporter systems or they'll know you're there, but that's shouldn't be much of a hitch. Think you're up to it?"

"Tell me how much you're willing to pay me and where you want to pick me up at, and I'll see if I feel like it," he answered. Scimitar nodded thoughtfully.

"Fair enough. We can pay you $1000 if you pull this off properly, and we could pick you up right where you are. Just give us a sec and we'll transport a team over to pick you and your squad up."

"Uh..." Omega stuttered. What would happen once they found out he didn't have a squad? "Uhm, sorry, they're a bit busy with another mission right now. Sorry, but you'll have to be alright with just me. It won't do anything to hamper the mission though, I'm as good on my own as I am with others. Mission accepted." Omega finished.

"No problem. Just keep whatever communicator you're using on, we'll come and get you in fifteen minutes."

"Alright. I'll be waiting," Omega said. He tucked the communicator back on one of the shelves, watching as a screen-saver appeared. The fifteen minutes passed with no incident, except for the occasional time when Omega looked around for anyone watching him. Soon enough, a large group of raider soldiers in casual attire appeared. To the regular eyes, they were civilians, but Omega could see that each of them was too well toned and militaristic to be so. They came to Omega's stall then stopped. Looking around, they were unable to see him, despite him being so close.

"Darn it, the signal's coming from around here, where is he?" asked one of the raiders to no one in particular. The others continued to search in vain.

"Are we being watched?" Omega asked lowly. The raider nearest the stall leaped away in fright as the others looked at him questioningly. After a moment to collect his thought, the raider went back to the stall, leaning over the counter to look down at Omega, who was sitting in as leisurely a position as possible.

"Oi, guys, I found 'im... Hey, anyone see if we're being spied on?"

"Not that I can tell. Why's 'e ask?"

"Because I was being tailed earlier. I'm pretty sure I lost 'em, but I just wanted to double-check first," Omega answered airily. He got up from behind the stall, causing some of the others to start, "You know how it is sometimes." A few of the raiders nodded sympathetically. After taking a moment to assess his escort, Omega decided to move along with the operation. "So, anyways, now that we're all here, how are we going to get to wherever we need to go?"

"Like the boss said, straight to the point, this guy is," one of the raiders smiled. She stepped forward, offering her hand in greeting. Omega ignored it. After realizing that the mercenary wasn't one for treating others as equals, the female raider retracted her hand and began her explanation, "Oh. We'll be using a long range transporter for that. The others are going to be getting supplies and whatnot, so we won't be traveling with them. Just keep in contact with me when they start up the transport sequence at home, alright? I'll call them right now."

"Sure," Omega waved. He watched as she input codes into a wrist-communicator, his eyes straying to the raiders arranged in a conveniently concealing formation around him. Suddenly, he was brought back by the raider tapping his shoulder.

"They're ready any time, grab my shoulder, they're gonna start soon."

Omega complied. Seconds passed, drawn out by the wait. Then, instantly, Omega felt the transportation sequence commence.

X X X X X

Deep in a strange land, a shadowed figure's eyes opened instantly. It lurched from its chair, suddenly interested in the data that had disappeared off of the screen in front of it. Scrolling back through the files that passed by swiftly, it searched for the odd information that was missing. But when the figure got to where the data was...

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

The figure blinked, shaking its head. Maybe it'd been watching for too long... Getting up, the figure left the room to have a break. It sent a replacement to watch the screen as it was gone. But still, something about the data that it had yet hadn't seen was confusing. The figure, unsure, mused about the implications of what just happened. Either it was something as simple as having been focused on the one thing too much and seeing an illusion, or the data that was there had ceased to exist of its own accord. Putting the thought out of its mind, the figure resigned itself to the fact that it probably just needed a rest from all its work. It left to have a proper break.

Sucked from its proper place, the data floated in nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

X X X X X

Once at the Raider's Headquarters, events progressed rapidly. Omega was briefed about his mission objectives, given armor, and loaded onto a stealth plane within the space of a few minutes. All in all, it was a very exciting undertaking. One fit for him for sure, thought Omega, as he mentally went over his orders again.

Primary objective: take control of the factory. Secondary objective, his favorite: destroy all opposition. The means to which he was getting there was pretty fun, too. Because of the need for stealth, the raiders couldn't afford to risk alerting the factory by using the teleporter circuit to get in close, and the terrain was too remote for then to know any safe places where they could drop off their task force farther away. So, a new approach had to be used.

Omega would be sky diving.

An alert sounded over the PA system of the plane. Everyone but him left the hold of the stealth bomber, not as eager as he was to be dropped from such a height. Grinning maniacally, Omega moved to the center of the room as the last crewman left the hold. The thick bolts that would keep the hold shut off from the rest of the ship clunked heavily. More locks chinked and clanged together. Now, it was the hold doors below him beginning to open. The static of the radio he had received shortly before alerted him that someone needed to talk to him.

"Hey bomb, ready to be deployed? Over." Scimitar's voice inquired jokingly.

"Been ready for a while, over." Omega replied.

"Great. Now remember, be careful when it's time to deploy your parachute. They're likely to have turrets around, whether or not they're auto-aim or not is unknown. Hope like hell they're not, or otherwise they'll be on you as soon as possible."

"If turrets could stop me I'd have been dead long ago. Now open this damn door already, this bomb wants to go off and it won't be pretty if it's in here!" Omega playfully growled, itching to feel his enemies' blood on his fingers. Warm, wet, intoxicating blood...

"As you say so. Mission commencing!"

With a lurch, the doors opened, leaving Omega standing for the briefest second on air. Then he fell into the sky below, wind rushing past his body and whipping his hair into a myriad of shapes. He folded his arms at his side and his legs straight out behind him, facing down towards the earth below him. Now streamlined, he plummeted rapidly towards an ever-growing gray box on the ground below him, the weapons factory. Lush green trees and rocky crags jutted out slightly and carpeted the area around the warehouse. Omega was thoroughly enjoying the sensation. The only thing that made the moment strange was that he was descended from the heavens above him, instead of ascending from hell below. But, oh well, it would be hell down there soon enough.

"Hey, whoa, you're descending faster than we thought you would! Are you listening? HEY!"

Omega sneered at the air, unhappy to have been interrupted, "Yeah yeah, what do you want?"

"It's gonna be what you want too, mate. You're going to need to open your parachute in about ten seconds, unless you want to be a pancake when you get down there!"

"Understood, start countdown!" Omega yelled.

"Alright, got it. We're at five... four... three... two... one..."

Omega's hand jerked to the parachute's release cord.

"NOW!"

With a sound like the sail of a ship, his parachute opened in milliseconds. The straps around his arms and midsection seemed to stop instantly, his body being forced to stop as well with a gut-wrenching lurch. After a moment to regain his breath, he began to tack and steer towards the factory. Now, thought Omega, it's just getting boring. The scenery grew marginally bigger as he slowly but surely descended towards his target. Omega yawned, then decided to take a closer look at the factory.

At first, everything was calm, as if the factory had been abandoned for years. That certainly seemed to be what the raiders were aiming for when they designed it. But then, just barely, Omega saw a small, blinking red light. Using his keen eyes, he peered as closely as he could at the building. What was that...?

Without warning, a small red dot appeared on Omega's armor. He remembered, with a sickening sensation, the warning about turrets. With every second counting, he did the only thing he could.

The purple zephyr of his sword cut through the cords. With at least another two hundred feet left to go, Omega went into a free-fall. And just in time; the parachute, still open, was suddenly ripped apart and riddled with holes. The pack on Omega's back was flung into the air as another distraction for the turret. It worked, and as it was torn to pieces, Omega prepared for what would be a very hard landing. He spread his body out to create drag, his feet towards an earth that was very _rapidly_ approaching.

With a huge crash, he hit the ground hard. Tree trunks shattered as a huge plume of dust rose from where Omega had landed. As the dust slowly cleared, Omega was able to get to his knees. The fall did damage, but not enough to impede him for long.

"Are you alright? Do you copy? Come in, are you alright? Do you copy?"

Omega, rubbed his head, trying to understand what was going on after the shock. A quick shake brought him back to his senses.

"Are you alright, do you-!"

"I don't copy, I kill, now can you shut the hell up? I just fell who knows how many feet, give me a break!"

The radio fizzed out into silence. Despite his legs feeling like jelly after the crash, he managed to get up, walking slowly towards his target. Every step he took was labored and heavy. Eventually though, his pace returned to normal, so he opened up communications again.

"Alright, I'm heading towards the target. Permission to maintain radio silence."

Scimitar answered from the other side of the line, "Permission granted. No doubt they think that they've destroyed whatever we sent at them, proceed with stealth. Cutting communications now."

The line went dead. Omega kept going on, fixated on the target, his bloodlust slowly growing every step he took.

God _damn_, he hated being shot at.

X X X X X

Scimitar leaned back from the console, turning to look out the window behind him. Alfredo watched him, confused.

"What's the matter, Scimitar? Is something bothering you?"

Scimitar continued to stare at the clouds outside of the ship. He sighed, "Yes, there is. Alfredo. Remember how you said that you thought he was lying about having a squad? I think I believe you now. No ordinary reploid could have survived a fall like that. Even the mega men probably wouldn't have been able to."

Alfredo coughed nervously, adjusting his glasses, "To tell you the truth, I was half joking that time. I'm not now, though. I mean, convincing all the other raiders that we had a super-strong reploid working for us was one thing, I didn't think it'd actually be a possibility!"

"Yeah, it's a good thing he took the job when he did. That band he's attacking right now was about to call our bluff," Scimitar said in an odd tone, "Alfredo... you don't think..."

"Think what?"

"That this reploid... that he's as strong as a mega man, do you? Maybe even stronger?" Scimitar asked.

His first mate took a while to respond, thinking carefully about his answer, "Well, sir, I can honestly say that I wouldn't be surprised if he was."

"Same here, Alfredo, same here..."

X X X X X

The great gray walls rose up from the soil forebodingly. Sounds of numerous machine clanking and scratching away almost completely drowned out the songs of the animals surrounding the factory's barbed wire fence, the wind brought with it the harsh smells of various chemicals customary to construction sites, and the shouts of unaware factory workers scurrying around inside.

Omega stomped up to the door, his thirst for murder only barely held in check. A factory worker from beside the front door came towards him, gun aimed.

"Hey, who the hell are y-!"

His life ended abruptly as Omega grabbed his shoulder with one hand, his waist with the other, and ripped him in two. Blood splashed liberally over him as he continued his furious march. Another worker understood the message immediately, dashing for his life to the illusion of safety inside the factory, shutting the door loudly behind him. Even before he got inside, he screamed for help from the raiders inside.

Bolts were hastily slid to prevent Omega from entering. It was a futile attempt. As the red demon arrived at the door, he let fly a mighty punch that nearly penetrated the steel portal.

"KNOCK...!"

His fist retracted, allowing him to swing the other with just as much power as the first. It left an identical dent next to the first.

"KNOCK!"

Terrified voices rang out from inside, "What the hell! Who are you? What do you want with us?"

"You _shot_ me, you bastards! You SHOT ME! And now you have ten seconds to surrender or open this door so that I can KILL YOU ALL!" He roared, shaking the rafters with the rage in his voice.

"Wait, what? What makes you think you can just barge in here and take control on a whim? We are not a bunch of pushovers, we are a sophisticated crime gang with a weapons factory under our complete control! And we'll be _damned_ if we're going to let you just-"

"_TIME'S UP_!" Omega screamed demoniacally. He brought both of his fists back, pounding them simultaneously into the two dents. The dents gave way as his hands went through. Bringing his fingers back, he dug into the door, nearly making ten more holes as they dented the metal. Then, using all of his strength, he ripped each door from its hinges. The bolts went flying along with the doors behind him. Red eyes glowing brightly, the god of destruction looked up at several squads of fully armed, armored, petrified raiders watching him helplessly from within. The one at the front, apparently the leader, raised a machine gun at him.

And was promptly gutted with it.

Dropping the weapon among the spilled entrails, Omega dashed forwards and wreaked his unholy wrath among the remaining raiders. He grabbed a skull here, smashed it on another there, grabbed both of the bodies and used them as projectile weapons on yet another, then punched through a chest at his left. He brought out the reddened fist, elbowing the face of the raider behind him, crushing it, all while his right hand was preoccupied ripping the throat out of a raider with a grenade launcher. His next victim had his spine ripped out through their stomach to be used as a weapon against another. And so the carnage continued, until all nearby surfaces were drenched with steaming carmine liquid and brutally torn bodies littered the hall.

Omega really, _really_ hated being shot at.

His way cleared of opposition, Omega continued on his way through the factory. He explored every possible hall and room that he could, destroying anyone who got in his way and disabling all defensive machinery. It was only a few minutes since he had first "knocked" on the front door of the weapons factory, but Omega's ruthless efficiency was making the mission progress smoothly.

The first few floor of the factory was captured only moments later. Omega looked around, waiting anxiously for more raiders to appear for him to slaughter. A small movement caught his attention. His hair moving unnaturally, he ran after it. Soon he found himself at another door, presumably leading to the last room on the floor. One raider stood struggling with it, attempting to open it before they were the next to die. Omega grinned maliciously, walking slowly forward. The raider heard his footsteps, then glanced behind herself in terror. She began screaming but to no avail. Her life ended with a sound somewhere between a splat and a crunch.

Blood spread out slowly on the floor, slipping under the door and dripping down something. Omega, curious, began fiddling with the door. For about three seconds. Tiring of playing around with it, he began punching it to force it to either open or be destroyed.

However, this door was both thicker and stronger than the front one. In order to pass it, the red demon realized that he would have to bring out his weapon. A pity, he was having fun bare-handed, but oh well. His hands slick from the gore on them, he grabbed his trusty sword and began pitting it against the thick obstacle.

It worked. Scars appeared and rapidly grew large on the door until it was no longer a door but a pile of rubble. Behind the wreckage, barely lit by the emergency light among it, was a staircase with a small waterfall of blood forming on it from the nearby carcass.

Omega descended down the stairs, his footsteps echoing throughout the thinning hall. The lights slowly became dimmer and dimmer as he went. More blood dripped down the stairs, but even that sound all but faded as the light eventually disappeared altogether.

The stairs suddenly stopped. Omega took his last step off of them and onto the basement level of the factory. Pitch black to all but him, Omega took a step forward, then slipped slightly. Looking down to see what caused it, Omega saw that it was the combination of a dirt floor as well as the blood soaked into his clothes. It wasn't a threat, so he continued. Another door was in front of him, so he dealt with it the same way he did the others. Stepping into the new room, Omega peered around to see what was in it. A soft humming sound reverberated around the room, he must be near the factory's generator.

Without warning, Omega felt a stabbing pain below his arm. His legs gave way and he ended up on his knees before he even realized what was happening..

"Who are you to intrude in my factory?" hissed a voice to his side. Omega struggled to turn his head to face his new opponent.

"Guhrrrr... what? Who are _you_?" he demanded. Unseen claws tapped against the floor as his assailant trotted into view.

"Impudent one, aren't you? But you will die here for disturbing my peace, so I suppose I can humor you for now. My name is Scorzon, the poison arachroid of the Nightcrawler syndicate," grated a harsh voice.

"Oh, I get it, you're an overgrown spider. Coward, you poisoned me, didn't you? Come out of the shadows and show your ugly hide!" Omega growled. He was slowly regaining proper control of his body, but he kept pretending to be weak, just in case. The hidden foe hissed angrily.

"I am no spider, how dare you mock me so! I am a scorpion! Not some lowly spider! And besides, I did not poison you, I paralyzed you. You were closer than others though, I suppose. Humph, why am I bothering with a lowlife like you? You obviously sneaked in here without anyone knowing... tch. I'll have to reprimand my troops about letting in vermin after they deal with you." he walked away, but Omega wasn't finished with him yet.

"Oh, troops? What troops?" he taunted. The claw scraping stopped immediately.

"What do you mean, what troops? The trained soldiers in the factory outside, of course! What a fool you are, to have ignored them on your way in. Perhaps they should use you as target practice for new weapons..." the voice muttered.

Omega chuckled evilly, "Now who's the fool? Of course I didn't ignore them... not _one_..."

"You are talking nonsensically agai-" the voice began to scold, but then stopped itself. Something twitched in the darkness, as if unsure of something, "Wait... what is that smell? What are you saying, _not one_? I will get to the bottom of this right now!" it screeched. It ran to some corner of the room, stopping with a skidding sound.

The lights were suddenly turned on. Omega blinked once, then looked to where the mysterious voice had gone. As it had said, it was a scorpion themed psuedaroid. Purple tints shone off its plated armor, all the way from the back of its head to the bulb on the end of its tail. The oval bulb on the tail sported something akin to an energy dagger, no doubt the mutos reploid's main weapon. Scorzon's legs were thin and weak-looking at the bottom but thick at the top, similar to the plates that served as his shoulders. Instead of arms, tentacles tipped with pincer claws sprouted from his arm sockets. He had mandibles that clacked together in its mouth as well as a pair of thick antennae. Omega smiled now that he knew what his opponent looked like, and its obvious weaknesses. The psuedaroid, on the other hand, looked shocked.

"You... you're covered in blood! What is the meaning of this! What happened to my soldiers?" raged Scorzon.

"What do you think I did? I killed them. Every last one. And _damn_, they made such a _glorious_ mess. But, that's the past, isn't it? I say we forget about your troops and worry about _you_." Omega sneered. He leaped up from the floor, bringing out his gun. Plasma blasts flew from his gun as Scorzon jumped out of the way to avoid them. Scorzon countered with shots of his own, which Omega was careful to dodge. They continued to exchange blasts until it became clear that nothing would be accomplished that way. Omega, ever the attacker, took the initiative. He swung his gun, transforming it back into a sword, then charged. Scorzon blocked with the dagger on his tail, grabbing Omega with one of his claws.

"You monster! Those were my faithful soldiers! You... you'll pay for each and every one of their lives tenfold! As their commander, that is my duty! What did you think you would be able to accomplish by coming down here, now that you've slaughtered my minions? Why did you do it? WHY!"

His answer was a rough kick to the face. Scorzon dropped Omega, lashing at him with his tail as he retreated from the blow. Omega received a thin slice on his forearm, causing him to stumble drunkenly away as well. Both fighters shook off their maladies at the same time, squaring off and circling their respective prey.

"Why? Why not!" Omega laughed. He feinted a right thrust with his sword. Scorzon made to grab him, but was thrown off by the maneuver, allowing Omega to close in and slice at the thin tentacle. It cut away easily. Scorzon yelled with pain, grasping Omega unexpectedly with his remaining claw. Now with the red demon caught in his grasp, Scorzon attempted to crush him, as well as bash his mechanical brains out by smashing him into walls. Omega took the blows in stride, charging up power in his feet. Realizing that his tactic wasn't working, Scorzon prepared to impale Omega with his tail blade.

Now it was Omega's turn to be unexpected. He twisted towards the psuedaroid's head, kicking it at the same time he released his Heat Launch. Scorzon was forced to either release him or lose his remaining arm, so he chose the former. Omega rammed heartily into the wall, causing him to wind himself. He dragged himself out of the wall's new crater as Scorzon wailed, his visual sensors decimated by Omega's EX Skill.

The red demon jumped into the air, using Static to cling to the ceiling. He crawled along it until he was above the Arachroid. Scorzon's antennae twitched, and he swiftly turned and fired at Omega. Taken aback by the maneuver, he was forced to land roughly and settle for a quick Burning Sky Blade to send his opponent into the air. Scorzon landed with a crash several feet away. Omega ran forwards, jumping upwards and preparing a final downward stab to finish him off.

Scorzon, despite his disorientation, managed a charge, catching Omega off guard. The crimson destroyer was forced to land on Scorzon's shoulder plates and move his arms frantically to keep his balance. Now that he knew exactly where his enemy was, Scorzon leaned forwards, jabbing with his dagger to try and hit Omega directly.

Omega took his chance. He grabbed the bulb of the tail, changing its course by stabbing downward. The blade went straight through Scorzon's head and out the other side. Sparks flew from the hole and the now lifeless eyes. His internal systems overloaded, Scorzon's body exploded.

The blast launched Omega into the wall. Dust and smoke floated leisurely in the air, slowly drifting downwards. Dragging himself from another crater, Omega put his hand on his newly acquired head wound. Red slowly trickled from it, coating the right side of his face. He grimaced as it began to heal more painfully than it should have.

"I really need my old helmet back..." he groaned. Eventually the tear healed, giving Omega the chance to survey his surroundings. Despite the battle, most of the machinery in the room was in pristine condition. But, well, with a weapons factory under your control, why not take care of it? As he looked around the room, Omega noticed another door, hidden behind a large console. Smirking, Omega headed towards it, eager to see what was on the other side.

The moment he opened the door, he noticed the pitch-black lighting and the silence. "It seemed as though Scorzon had a bit of an affinity for darkness," Omega whispered to himself. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard a response.

"Scorzon... I already... fixed the console once today..." The voice was feminine and weak. Almost as if the speaker was severely ill, "please... Scorzon, can't you spare me today? I've already done the work today... No more target practice..."

Omega's eyes adjusted to the gloom. He peered around the room, noticing a hunched figure in the corner. "Scorzon is dead. I don't know who you are, but I personally made sure that he and his troops were spread all over the base. Quite frankly, you're probably going to be joining them in hell soon."

"Scorzon... dead? Heh... that's good. You know what? Maybe I _will_ go to hell... but I got to know that the bastard got what he deserved before I went." she said. The silhouette of the hidden figure slowly became separate from the shadows surrounding it. As Omega approached her, he was also able to make out the image of a light switch not far away from him. He turned it on.

The iguana reploid looked at him in slight surprise. Omega returned the gesture, uncertain about how he should receive the information his eyes were giving him. She was slightly taller than Omega, with a powerful frame. Her segmented underside and sharp, striped spines betrayed her defensive capabilities. Large, strong jaws were slightly open in exhaustion, and her menacing claws scraped feebly at the ground. Thick limbs were shackled to the wall, numerous injuries covered her body from her snout to the tip of her powerful tail. Chains draped all over her and the ground, weighing down with indifferent brutality. Sprawled out on the floor, she was assessing him at the same time he was her, noticing with interest the amount of blood on Omega's garments.

"Looks like you... _Hack_, took out more than just Scorzon on your way down here, hmm?" she observed mildly, "Hah hah, oh well, at least the guy... who's going to kill me... at least he's a cutie..." she taunted. With that, her head fell with a clunk. She breathed out, as if she were finally relaxing after a long war.

Omega brought out his sword, the blade glowing in the sparse light. Staring down at his final victim for the day, he raised the weapon above her head... And stopped.

Was it the fact that she was peacefully resigned to her fate? Or was it because of how the chains reminded him of his own bondage to Weil? He could easily see that she had been tortured in some way... the gashes and bullet wounds were undeniable. Maybe it was the fact that she was unconscious. Killing a sleeping victim was never as fun as an alert one...

He lowered his sword. For whatever reason he came up with, Omega couldn't deny the facts; he, for once in his life, couldn't find it in him to kill someone.

He hissed at himself for his incompetence. What the hell was wrong with him? Was he getting soft? No, he must just be tired from his earlier fight. And besides, she posed no threat to him. So why not kill her? Why!

He raised his sword again, determined to undo his mistake. Mercy was his enemy; he would destroy it like everything else in his path. Unfortunately, his path was about to become even more crowded. The communicator in his pocket rang.

"Commander to Bomb, how are things down there? It's been a good amount of time, are you done yet? We'd like to move in as soon as possible."

"Bomb to commander, I was just about to kill the last one right now, actually. A pretty banged-up Psuedaroid slave, I think. Not that it's going to matter in ten seconds," Omega replied.

"A psuedaroid? If you haven't killed it already, then capture it for us, would you? They're useful things to have."

"But-"

"No buts, I'm your commander for this mission and I'm adding it to your list of objectives."

Omega snarled at the order, "No way! I-"

"I'll pay you extra," Scimitar said almost tauntingly.

Faced with the new dilemma, money and the loss of principle or principle and a lot of suspicion, Omega was forced to make a tough decision. He unwillingly settled on letting the psuedaroid live. But he'd be damned if he went with it calmly!

"It better not be some measly amount, got that? 500 at least! And it won't be my fault if it dies in the meantime!" he grimaced.

"Hmm... I suppose that's only fair. I mean, I did give you the objective at the last second. Very well, you'll receive it along with the rest of your money later. Speaking of which, I know your methods are a bit messier than most people's, so would you mind cleaning up before we get there?"

"How long until you get here?"

"Around fifteen minutes."

"I'll try. Just don't expect the blood to be gone. I can only do so much, you know."

"That's fine, just burn the bodies so that we don't have to worry about smell. We'll handle the blood, it's not like we haven't dealt with that sort of thing before."

"Got it."

Omega turned off the communicator, staring down at the psuedaroid with disgust, "You're lucky, pathetic scum. You get the chance to live another day. But don't think I won't take that away if I get the chance!" he finalized. With an impatient grunt he left the room, taking to the task of cleaning up. After finding an incinerator room (which he guessed doubled as the factory's heating), he gathered the mauled bodies of his victims to fling into it. His assumption was right; the temperature of the building rose as he worked in the gruesome mess. After the last body in the factory was turned to ash, Omega, even though the heat didn't bother him at all, decided to go find a way to let some of the heat out. The last thing he needed was his employer roasting to death the moment he stepped inside the factory.

As he stepped out into the blood drenched front of the factory, he remembered that there weren't any windows, or doors for that matter, to open. The heat permeated up from the factory's ruined front orifice in waves, the door far from where it should be. Omega blinked, a little farther than he thought it'd be, actually.

Not that it was of any concern. The red demon walked leisurely forward, enjoying the gentle plop of blood hitting the ground. And until he washed his clothes, the relaxing sound would continue.

The body of the first guard was suddenly in view, the ground soaked in an incriminating fashion. Looking down at it, Omega admired his handiwork. _Damn_, he could do some damage when he was angry. The raiders would arrive in about five minutes, which was plenty of time in the God of Destruction's opinion. He grabbed the two pieces of the carcass and dragged them slowly into the incinerator room, not at all worried that there were small bits coming off of it. They just fit in with the others.

Hidden behind the trees, the raiders, who had arrived early, were holding their breaths. Scimitar and Alfredo, despite being seasoned law-breakers, were pale.

"That... that was a person, wasn't it?" asked one of the rookies. Scimitar spared him glance, stared, and nodded solemnly. The rookie gagged, his hand in front of his mouth. He dashed off into the foliage and was sick. Grimacing, Scimitar turned back to the blood stained scene near the factory.

"Just what the hell kind of a monster is he? What have we gotten ourselves into here?" Alfredo muttered, loud enough for all to hear.

"I think we've gotten ourselves into a good situation, actually," Scimitar pointed out. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Uh, sir," stuttered a soldier, "how exactly is associating with that... thing, if you'll permit me to call it that, a good situation? It could kill us all on a whim, for all we know!"

Scimitar pointed to the bloodstains on the ground, "Well, look at it this way; at least he's on our side."

Murmurs of agreement followed the statement. They settled into silence soon after, like an unspoken order for quiet had been called. When the five minutes passed, Scimitar gulped, then stepped out into the barren land around the factory. His raiders followed.

Omega stood waiting for them at the entrance. He seemed pleased with himself, humming a little tune and squeezing out excess blood from his garments. The armor given to him by the raiders was in a neatly folded pile on the ground nearby. Scimitar coughed, acquiring Omega's attention.

"Well well, it certainly seems like you were triumphant. We'll begin moving our forces in immediately."

"That I was. Do what you like with 'er, this place is yours now. Just pay up and get me back to camp, I really need a bath."

Scimitar put on a grin, "It sure looks like it. Now, let Jerry here take you home in the fighter we have set up, he'll drop you off on the outskirts of hunters camp." The raider in question cringed, wilting visibly under the Dark Messiah's glare.

"Whatever. Let's get this over with."

Scimitar handed Omega his money, then directed him and the much subdued pilot to their destination. The sun was beginning to fall in the sky, painting the air a glorious myriad of fiery colours.

X X X

The moment the raider flew off, Omega dropped to the ground. He writhed and tore at the earth, covering himself with a liberal amount of dust. It took many layers of grit for the deep red of the blood to be hidden. After that, sneaking back into the camp was easy. He trotted back to his hangar, avoiding the main roads and alleys. Inside his primitive home, he searched for something to clean himself off with. The only thing that was there was a small tap in the corner, hell knew if it worked. Omega went to it, testing it. Cold water gushed from it onto his hand, blasting away both the dirt and the blood. He frowned. If only he had a bucket... oh well, he'd make do.

Cupping his hands, Omega splashed water over the parts of his body that he couldn't put under the tap. The grit sloshed onto the floor, forming a puddle with the diluted blood that slowly moved towards a drain in the floor. He scrubbed away what didn't come out easily, eventually taking his clothes off in disgust. They soaked up a _lot_ more body fluids than he thought they could.

When he was done, he hung the clothes to dry, noting again that he should probably get some new ones soon. A great yawn unexpectedly escaped his maw. Squeezing out his hair, Omega went over to the driest part of the hangar, laid his head against the floor, and slept.

X X X X X

Aeolus scowled down from the top of the neighboring building. He, for his failure to keep his eye on the unknown reploid, had been severely reprimanded. It was rare for the wind mega man to be cross, but this was one such occasion.

"I don't know how you managed it, but I _won't_ forgive it! _No one_ sneaks past me and plays me for a fool! _No one_!" he raged.

Ignorant people walked the streets below. Not one looked up to the tops of the hangars. Had they done so, they would have seen one of the most murderous looking mega man in history glaring down at a curtained window.


	16. Omega's first date

Well gang, it looks like Fanfiction doesn't like equal signs. Because of that, I'll be trying asterisks to separate author's notes and the story. Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Also, I've heard some controversy about what psuedoroids really are, but no matter what the truth is, I will continue to write about them in the same way I have been until now. I have been doing it for a while and would likely have to re-write a large part of my story otherwise. My pardons to you Psuedoroid perfectionists out there, but that's just how it is.

Sorry for the long wait people, I had a hard time writing this. Don't know why... but it finally came out! Hope you enjoy!

* * *

_Bang bang bang._

The door to the hangar was roughly assaulted. Omega awoke with a start, smacking his head in the process. Growling and grumbling, he got up. Rubbing the bump on his head, Omega went over to his hanging clothes and put them on as the banging continued.

_Bang clang bang!_

"Hey, would you wait a minute? I just got up!" Omega snarled to the intruder, "What the hell do you want with me anyways?"

Whoever was knocking on the hangar's door didn't hear. They kept up the assault, angering the God of Destruction further. He stormed over to the door, fully intent on giving the annoyance a taste of hell the moment he opened it.

_BANG BANG-!_

"Would you give it a goddamn-!"

_WHAM!_

Omega momentarily blanked out as he hit the ground hard. His nose cracked painfully as it hit the dirt, broken from the initial impact with whatever had struck him. He groaned, looking forward to see the back of his attacker's clawed feet. The feet turned towards him...

"Oh my god, oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that! Are you okay, why am I such a klutz I'm so sorry..."

Omega was seized by eight large digits. They dragged him off the ground until his eyes were level with the reptilian eyes of the psuedoroid holding him.

"Are you okay? You aren't really hurt, are you? Is your nose okay? Please tell me I didn't break it...!" she whined.

Omega, still slightly stunned, could do no more than look at the sky until he regained his mind. The sun was only barely rising, still held down by the line of the horizon. Street lamps shone dimly to counteract the darkness surrounding them. The realization of what time it was dawned on him at the same instant that he recognized his captor.

"You? YOU! What the hell are you doing here? I knew I should have killed you!" he roared.

The reptilian robot frowned at him. She blinked, then responded, "Tch, I thought you'd say something like that. Scimitar warned me that you weren't too social. Anyways, I just came here to drop something off." The mutos reploid slowly dropped Omega to the ground, where he promptly pushed away from her, sheltering his nose.

"So, what, you're on first name basis with Scimitar or something? Why should I care?" Omega snapped, pushing his broken snout back into place. He winced as it _popped _painfully. It would heal, but it wouldn't be nice in the meantime, Omega thought grimly.

"As a matter of fact, I am. And I know that it doesn't matter to you, but I'm already a high ranking mechanic, so _don't _you underestimate me," she said, poking at Omega roughly. "Now, isn't it rude to keep a lady out in the cold?" the reploid stepped past Omega, flourishing a mysterious package in front of Omega's bleeding face. He grunted angrily at her. He went to follow her in but nearly tripped over her tail, which was coiled around his ankle slightly. She giggled as he stumbled. Her laughter stopped abruptly as she entered the hangar, staring at the draconian ship inside of it.

"Hole... ee... SHIT MAN! Look at that baby, whoohoo! This I gotta see!" She flung the box behind her, forcing Omega to catch it before it fell to the ground.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Omega growled as she lovingly went over every inch of the ship. She didn't hear and continued her inspection. He kept complaining, but the complaints soon fell under his breath as they were ignored. "Stupid... next time... rrrgh..." Omega turned to angrily ripping of the tape on the box to vent his frustrations, the torn pieces drifting in multiple directions. He stopped when he saw the contents. They were the remnants of Scorzon's tail. Some circuits lay spreadeagled from their source, the bulbous tail tip. Deactivated, the energy blade was absent. Omega picked it up.

"Some of the raiders saw that hidden in the corner of the generator room, thought it might be yours," the intruder piped up.

He stared at it. "Yeah, it is," Omega replied suddenly. She nodded knowingly, then hopped down from on top of the ship.

"Alright then, my business here is done. My name is Iggy, by the way. Mind if I come back tomorrow? Your ship needs a tune-up and some new fuel. God, when did you last fill it up, anyways? It's almost empty! Silly, you need to keep it topped up or your fuel rods'll burn and your-"

"Yes yes sure whatever now get out!" Omega hurriedly snapped. He grabbed her by her forearm, pulled her to the door and shoved her through it. Slamming it behind her, he leaned up against it and sighed with relief. No _way_ he was going to let her go off on a babbling rant about ships. He'd always hated that sort of thing, never understood a word of it. He knew there would be repercussions later, but he'd deal with it when it was happening. For now... Omega delicately picked up Scorzon's tail blade from the box. He picked it apart gently until he found what he wanted, a small circuit board with minuscule patterns of wiring and blood. If he was right about this...

Omega closed his eyes, his hands glowed. He tried to acquire the DNA from the small blade. At first, nothing. But then, "_DNA acquired, EX Skill Scorpion Sting obtained_."

Omega nodded with slight satisfaction. Not the best of titles, but he was pretty sure of what it would do. He drew his sword, activating it, then took a battle stance as the description of the EX Skill ran through his mind.

"_EX Skill Scorpion Sting; injects a data code into the opponent at short range to temporarily paralyze and_/_or disorient them_."

He quickly thrust with his sword at an imaginary foe, watching with interest as his sword shortened into a dagger. It regained its length as soon as he finished the thrust. Omega studied his weapon as he contemplated his new skill. "It'll only be useful if I don't want my opponent dead right away. "Hah! Why would I want that, anyways? At that range, I could just kill them straight!" he sneered. Then another thought wormed its way into his dastardly mind. What if he _didn't_ want to kill them quickly? Oh, the possibilities!The sweet, agonized screams, the dripping blood, the looks of sheer terror...

Omega made a mental note to properly test out his new weapon as soon as possible.

His business with Scorzon's tail blade finished, he dropped it on the floor with a crash. He stomped on it brutally, shattering it, then kicked it to one of the far corners of the hangar. After that, he exited the hangar, shutting it properly. Looking around the street, he saw that it was almost completely devoid of life. Iggy, the iguana reploid, was nowhere to be seen. However, the street brought back the memory of what he'd be doing today.

"Aww, crap," Omega sulked. He'd almost completely forgotten about his date! He fished in his pocket for his money, to see how much of it he had. The energy crystals (since when had currency changed to energy crystals? Must not be much of an energy crisis any more) were intact, if a little damp from yesterday. He put the crystals back into his pocket, wondering what his next course of action should be. Grumpily he decided to wait. Oh well, at least he might get a little nap out of it. Omega leaned carefully against the wall of the hangar, closing his eyes and resting. Despite that, his senses were still tuned for the slightest sound of movement. He may be napping, but no way would he be sneaked up on!

Now that he was settled comfortingly, Omega waited. An hour passed. The dawn let way to the day as more and more hunters began to roam the streets in front of Omega's hangar, some of them stopping to chat with each other (or to look at him strangely). Suddenly, Omega heard a different gait from the normal hunter ones.

"Hmm?" Omega opened one eye, looking up with disdain.

"Wakey wakey." White smiled. She wore a white t-shirt matched with a light blue skirt that hung below her knees. She had yellow anklets and bracelets that matched nicely with a plain yellow necklace and scrunchie, which held a ponytail in place at the back of her head. A small blue purse with thin blue straps hung off of her shoulder. "I'm ready for our first date! Are you?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," grumbled Omega. He got up leisurely, dusting off the back of his trousers and stretching out a few new kinks in his mechanical muscles. Looking at her, he was at least relieved to see that she was expecting a fairly casual date.

She frowned, "You don't sound too enthusiastic about this."

"What, you expected Prince Charming?"

"Nope. Just making an observation. Say, is that the same outfit as yesterday?"

"Yes, but I cleaned it, just in case you were wondering," Omega replied. He gave her an annoyed glance, "I need to go pick up some outfits later, actually. Mercenary work isn't too kind on clothes."

White grinned coyly, "Well, why wait? We can go shopping now. I needed to pick up something myself."

"What's that?"

"A bathing suit. 'Cause you know, I was thinking that after we went shopping, we could go to the beach. I've got one in mind that's really nice."

"You're the boss here," Omega replied nonchalantly. He hated every moment that he was forced to be with her, but hopefully, if he acted like he didn't care, it would put her off. So far, it wasn't working, but he was sure that would change.

"Okay then, let's go shopping!" White backed off a bit, then began heading to the train station.

"Wait, shouldn't we be going to the marketplace?" Omega asked.

"No silly, there's more stuff at Legion city! C'mon already!" she giggled.

Omega rolled his eyes, following her to the station. He paid for them as they boarded, taking seats in the middle rows. As the train started up, Omega stared out the window at the camp and the wastelands surrounding it. His date sat down beside him, thankfully not leaning against him. Slowly the locomotive began clacking against the rails, speeding up the more it went. Scenery began to flash rapidly past the window.

"So, this Legion place, how long does it take to get there?" Omega asked.

"Not long, we're going there express so it shouldn't be over a half-hour," White replied, "anyways, maybe if we talk, the time will pass a little faster. We don't really know much about each other right now, so it'd be a good thing."

"I don't like talking," Omega stubbornly turned his face to the window, watching the wastelands fly by. Boring, but distracting.

White cocked her head, frowning, "You don't like a lot of things, it seems. Judging by your attitude right now, you like to push others away, am I right?"

Omega kept staring.

"Meh, that's your gig. I know how you feel though, I used to have life a lot harder than I do now. Me and my brother, we had to go through a lot. And I mean, a _lot_. It's no wonder we're in a witness protection program now."

Omega's ear perked. He looked behind himself via the reflection in the window, "Witness protection program?"

"Yeah... I won't tell you much more, cause of the stuff that landed us into the program. Although, I suppose if we're going to be dating, you should know at least a little of it..." she teased. If she was trying to get his curiosity, Omega scowled to himself, she'd have to try harder than that! But still, it might be good to know... he glanced at her, trying to hide his interest. However, White's trained eyes caught the small gesture.

"If you want to know, you only need ask," she taunted.

"And no doubt, there would be a hitch," Omega replied.

"Just a little equivalent exchange, that's all."

"Then if you're going to tell me anything, it better not be a whole lot."

"Okay!" she smiled. She looked past Omega, trying to look at his face in the window, "It all started a while back. We were being forced to work for someone we hated very much. I won't go into specifics, but... let's just say that it wasn't much fun at all. And there wasn't any way we could avoid it, either. The one we were working for had taken... precautions against that," she finished. Her eyes were flat and lifeless, the painful memories surfacing. Omega blinked, his own memories bearing their fangs. His eyes continued their solemn observation of the endless sands outside the train.

Pandora coughed, glancing over at Omega. "Well... that's my tale done, for now. What about you?"

"Oh, right. Umm..." Omega scratched his head, unsure of where he should start, and how to reveal as little information as possible. "Okay, uh, I used to work for a guy like that as well, long ago. Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to let me hate him. Problem was, failure wasn't an option for him. And, well, if it happened..." He left the statement hanging.

"...That's sad..." she mumbled, "was it just you he did that to? Or was there ever anyone else?"

Omega laughed quietly, coldly, "No, it was just me. He had other minions, of course, but believe me, I was all alone where I stood. Rank-wise, I mean. And in other ways too, I suppose."

"You know... Me and my brother, we always thought we were all alone in this world. We had each other, but no one else who knew what kind of suffering we went through. Maybe that's what I like about you, I could see it in your eyes the moment we met. You've suffered too. Maybe, I don't know, I felt you were one of us." She blushed, moving a little closer, possibly hoping for some sort of comforting answer.

Omega kept staring out the window, not even bothering to watch her reflection any more, "Yeah, I've gone through a lot. Trust me though, I'm not like you. Quite frankly, I'm not like anyone," he muttered. He made a mental note to show less emotion in his eyes.

"I guess that's how anyone would feel. We're all unique, right?" she tried to looking consoling, but Omega knew that she'd been hoping for more of an "Oh yay I'm not alone I think I like you too" answer. He'd be damned if he gave her that.

Minutes passed in silence. Omega finally turned away from the window, looking at Pandora, "So White, know how much longer we have?"

"Oh, uhm, not long I think. Here, give me a sec to check my GPS," she began searching through her purse until she found the object she was looking for. It was similar to the communicator that Omega had used to call up the Raiders, but a pale cream colour. It also had a strange, triangular symbol on the back.

Omega pointed at the symbol, "What's that?"

Pandora looked at it, then laughed, "It's the symbol for Legion, silly! You know, the government? How could you not know that?"

Omega grimaced, turning away from her, "I like to stay away from civilization, you can't blame me for not knowing."

"Oh well, you know now," she replied, turning the device on. She checked up their location, smiling to herself. Every time she turned this device on, Legion would know where she was as well. "Anyways, we're not far now. The train goes faster than I thought, probably be just another ten to fifteen minutes."

"Alright then, I'm gonna have a nap." Omega was out before Pandora could utter another word. She sighed, wondering how she would wake him up once they got to Legion. For the rest of the trip, she stared out into the desert surrounding them.

As the train screeched into the station, Omega's eyes shot open. White was looking down the aisle that led to the door. She turned to him to wake him, but jumped when she realized that he was already alert.

"Whoa! I though you were asleep?"

"I was, but I sleep lightly. Now come on, we've got to go get this shopping trip over with."

They got up, following the steady procession of people leaving the train. Omega noticed with interest that the station was just outside of a large, impassable-looking wall. He peered around at the surroundings, taking in the many small aspects of the station. A few vendors called out for customers to come see their wares, but mostly, people just sat in chairs or stood in rows, shading their eyes against the dust as they waited to board the train (or for people to get out of the way so that they could get off). Omega turned to Pandora, curious.

"Hey White, why would they have a train station outside of the city? Doesn't make sense to me."

Pandora glanced back at him as she trotted down some stairs, "It's got a dual purpose, actually. It keeps the sand out, so that they don't have to constantly worry about cleaning it out of the station, and it also prevents anyone from using the train to do any terrorist stuff. Legion's pissed off enough raiders that they wanted to make sure that the raiders didn't try and run the train into the city. If they tried that out here, the walls would stop them."

"Sounds silly to me. Having the station outside just proves that Legion is afraid of the raiders. And for crying out loud, keeps out the sand? What's so bad about a little sand?"

She pursed her lips, "You know what, those raiders mean business, they can't just ignore them! Not only that, the sand is a lot more dangerous than you might think. The reason there's so much sand blowing about out here is because it's toxic. Whatever caused those wastelands leeched bad chemicals into it. Psuedaroids and the odd reploid may be resistant, but get a good sandstorm going and it's corrosive as heck to anything else. That's why plants can't grow, either." Gazing out at the wastelands as they readied to enter Legion, Pandora sighed heavily. "You know, as long as I've lived, those deserts have been there. They've been slowly diminishing, but... what I want to know is how they got there in the first place. What force of nature could have done such a horrible thing?"

"Wasn't nature, honey." Omega sneered absently.

Pandora shot him an aghast look. Omega quickly realized what he had said, stumbling out an excuse, "Well, I mean, look at it! Do you honestly think something natural could have caused it?"

"Maybe it was an earthquake that released some sort of odd metal-"

"Hah, yeah right! An earthquake? Whoever gave you that idea? And what kind of odd metal would disintegrate quickly enough to poison everything at once? In order for this much environmental damage, whatever had done it would have had to have done it all at once, in a wide radius, getting rid of anything that could have stopped it spreading. Anything other than than would poison, yes, but still be contained, probably by trees or grasses or whatever. But that?" He gestured violently towards the desolate grains in the distance, "That, White, could not have been done by anything other than a purely destructive force! For all you know, it could have been done on purpose!"

She gasped in disgust and shock. "On purpose? Who could want to do anything that monstrous on purpose!"

Omega could have recounted everything he knew about the "who" right then and there. He remembered the incident with the Eurasia space station to the letter (and had been rather upset at the time that he hadn't been the one who did it). However, that would probably end up with him monologuing into both the maverick virus's origins as well as his, so he didn't. "Who knows? Anything goes in war."

"Wait, war? What war?"

"You know, the old wars that all the ancient tech raiders like to dig up was designed for," Omega explained.

She gave him a blank look, "Old wars? There isn't a historian alive who knows anything that happened over two hundred years ago, and there certainly weren't any wars in the time frame we do know of."

Omega realized that he'd just let something else important slip. He did his best to rectify it, "That's what I heard happened, anyways. Who knows if there really was a war or not, but it makes sense."

"It would, actually. Fighting leads people to do crazy things," she pondered, "but even then, destroying the environment completely seems a little drastic. Someone would have had to have been really desperate, or plain mad, but what kind of fight could have caused that?"

So she bought his excuse for now. Omega was glad, so he continued their conversation in as meaningless a manner possible. It seemed to work until they arrived at the customs gate at the city. They were stopped due to Omega's lack of ID, and it wasn't until Pandora showed the guards her communicator and said that he was with her did they manage to pass.

When they were beyond the guards' hearing range, Omega asked her how she'd done it.

She smiled back at him as they passed various shops and people, "Well, this communicator also has another function. It's quite useful when you're in a witness protection program... but apart from that, I shan't say more, 'kay?"

Annoyed at not getting the full answer, Omega resigned himself to peering at the different goods in the store windows, "So, where are the clothes around here, anyways? Got any good shops in mind, or are we going to wing it?"

"Mm, I think there's one on the way to the beach. We can check it out when we get there."

"Whatever."

They slowly walked towards their destination, Pandora leading with Omega at her side. While she seemed relaxed, Omega was anything but. His eyes skirted every nook and cranny, watching the various security mechaniloids scurrying here and there. Colourful goods and cheery pedestrians assailed his vision as they continued past, some of them even waving at them. Pandora always waved back, Omega didn't. To the ordinary person, Legion was a delightful place. To him, it was a trap.

They kept on their path. Slowly, he began to notice more and more stores.

"We're here!" she cried out happily. Pandora grasped Omega's hand, looking at him, "So, where do we want to go first?"

Omega snatched back his hand, dusting it off with contempt, "I don't care."

"Fine then, be that way," she growled. Grabbing his hand again, despite his protests, she half-dragged him forward into the crowds surrounding the stores. Peering around as they went, she soon spotted a shop that she liked. They went towards it.

"Oh, look at that!" she exclaimed. Pandora pointed to just inside the entrance of the shop at a row of bikinis hung on a rack. Finally letting go of Omega's hand, she raced towards it, looking at the different colours that were available. The ones that caught her eye the most were a bright, clean white triangular pair. Thin blue straps tied the top together at the back, while the bottom was tied together at the side. Yet, as nice as they were, they weren't the most revealing bathing suit on the rack (the ones that won _that_ title made Omega sure they were straight from a boy's "magazine").

"What do you think?" she asked Omega.

He shrugged, "If you like it..."

"I think I do... I'm gonna go try it on!" she trotted to the back of the store and towards the change-rooms. Her eyes strayed to a few more garments as she went. Omega, now waiting for her to finish, began to look around the store as well.

A few minutes passed. Omega leaned against the open door, until he heard from Pandora again, "Hey, get in here! How are you supposed to tell me how I look if you can't even see?"

Omega cursed the fact that he was letting some random girl order him around, but went in anyways, "Fine, whatever."

When he got there, she was leaning against the side of the change-room, looking over at him, "So, what do you think? Does it look good?" The first thing Omega noticed is that it did indeed look good. It complimented her figure nicely, showing off her good features without flaunting enough to be considered questionable. Her hair matched almost perfectly with the straps that encircled her neck, back and waist. The triangular theme worked with her slanted pose to finalize the look, as well as catch a few wayward eyes from elsewhere in the store.

Omega had to admit, grudgingly, that she looked good. Of course, he wasn't going to tell her that! "It looks alright," he muttered.

"I'm glad you like it," she replied sarcastically. Then Omega noticed something _very_ peculiar.

"Wait, White, what happened to your skin?" Omega nearly gaped. Her shin was a pale tan, a human colour! "I thought you were a reploid!"

"I _am_ a reploid... what, you thought my skin was black! What the heck? Hahaha!" she clutched her stomach, leaning over slightly from laughing so hard, "Heeheehee, you thought my body suit was my skin! Oh geeze, you're a real hoot! Teehahee!" She continued, oblivious to the dark look Omega had. He was getting lost in his own world, confused. If reploids had human coloured skin, what did that mean for the relationship between the two? Had reploids become equals? Had humans been wiped out? Was there even a distinction between the two species anymore? The implications of this sent Omega's head spinning.

"Hey, are you okay? You look a little off there..." she tapped him lightly on his head, "say... you didn't _actually_ think my skin was black, did you? It was my body suit, you know, just-in-case armor? Everyone wears it because of the raiders, not because their skin is really black... unless... is your skin black?" she asked, her jovial attitude gone.

Omega shut his mouth. He turned away from her, pretending not to have heard. He feigned interest in a rack of swim goggles. He didn't want to say yes, but at that point, he was sure it was obvious. A few glances around assured him that, at least, no one had eavesdropped on their conversation.

"It is, isn't it? Black skin... you have body armor for skin? Or is it just black?"

Silence.

Pandora waited for an answer, but it seemed that her date was done with talking. No doubt she'd hit upon a sensitive subject. But what subject was it? There seemed to be no harm in trying to pry a little farther.

"Does this have to do with who made you?" she inquired quietly. Omega was stone still. Pandora sighed, he was going to be as difficult as he possibly could if she kept on this course. "Fine, I get it, you won't talk about it. Fair enough. Perhaps we should move on, then. Didn't you have to get some clothes too? We're going to a beach, so you might want to get some of those as well", she said. pointing across the store. Omega finally shifted, then noticed a rack of mens swim wear. He didn't go over to it.

"I don't swim."

"Why not?."

"I don't like to."

"Just get a swimsuit then, you can lay down on the sand and relax, get a little sun."

"I don't like the sun."

"Fine then. Come on, no one will care if you have black skin. Some people actually wear their body suits to the beach, you know. People see them as a bit paranoid, but you don't usually care what other people think about you, do you?"

Omega paused. He glanced back over his shoulder at Pandora, whose arms were crossed. People wore their body suits to the beach? Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing to get a swimsuit... then he mentally slapped himself. Not only would that be giving in to the annoying woman's demands, he was pretty sure his scar would stick out like a sore thumb. So he gave her his usual hate-the-world look and responded.

"No."

Pandora growled in disbelief and anger, "Are you going to keep standing there like a spoiled brat? For crying out loud, you're a grown man! Quit acting like a stubborn child!"

The comment stung, but Omega didn't let her know that. Instead, he coyly turned his head just enough to look at her with a smirk of disdain. "No."

If Pandora still had her staff, she was pretty sure she would have beaten the crap out of the man right then and there. Instead, she gritted her teeth, breathing out angrily and trying to control her temper. "Fine then, you don't want a swimsuit? Whatever. Let's just go to the beach and lose some anger along the way, okay? I don't want to do something I'll regret, and you need to get rid of your attitude." With a huff, Pandora stomped back into the change-room. She reappeared a few moments later and headed to the teller at the front. Scrounging around in her purse, she tried to gather the funds she needed for the swimsuit, but was having a little less luck than she'd hoped for. Omega lightly slammed the money she needed in front of the cashier, giving a daredevil smirk as the money was accepted. Pandora affixed Omega with a look of rage, then took the swimsuit and pounded out of the store. Omega took the change from the confused teller. He followed Pandora down the street, shortly out of her immediate range of sight.

Finally, this was starting to get fun...

It wasn't until they reached the beach that Omega bothered to get close enough to Pandora for her to see him. Splashes and joyous shouts bounded over the sands as numerous civilians explored the various pleasures of the beach, the water, the sun, or the many friends nearby. There seemed to be no regard for the different ages or genders, everyone just got along. Omega found that incredibly bizarre, but ignored it for the moment.

"So, you decided to follow me after all," she frowned.

"Of course. No way I'm going to miss out on an opportunity to torment you."

Pandora frowned again, "How nice. Well, you'll have to wait a little longer. I just saw some friends, so I'm going to go have a quick chat with them." Without another word she was off again, this time towards another street leading to the beach. He watched as she suddenly stopped at the edge, talking to people hidden just behind a wall. Impatient, Omega waited for her to finish, not quite adventurous enough to intrude on the conversation. It didn't take long. She began to walk back soon enough, along with a youth wearing a short-sleeved blue hoodie with light blue pockets and hood, which was drawn up over his face. A grin that looked somewhat eternal rode on his face along with a pair of sunglasses. He wore sky-coloured swim trunks under the hoodie, and his white skin had almost no trace of a tan at all. The kid waved at Omega as he neared.

"Hiya! So you're the guy I heard so much about from White. Nice to meet'cha!" he greeted, entirely too jovial for Omega's taste.

"Hmph." his existence was barely acknowledged.

"Ooh, a tough guy, eh? You've got a lot of nerve to do that with me! Do you know who I am?" he pointed at himself, grinning widely. Omega stared down at him, not answering. At least, not verbally. His body language just screamed, don't know, don't care. The youth's smile lessened slightly, but resumed itself quickly, "Oh right, probably hard to see with these sunglasses on. Kinda good, that's what I'm wearing them for. My name is Thetis! The Model L Mega Man!"

Omega raised his eyebrow somewhat skeptically, but he could begin to see the resemblance. Without warning, a small blue, white and yellow box peeked out from Thetis' pocket, staring with glowing eyes at Omega.

"Oh, and that's Model L. Now go on, get back in there before someone sees you, I'd rather not have a crowd of any kind around here." Thetis cooed, gently pushing the odd object back into his pocket. Then he looked strangely at Omega, as if he were an old acquaintance that he'd forgotten, "Hey, Model L says that there's something odd about you. You know, as if she'd seen you somewhere before? You don't know anything about biometal, do you?"

Omega scratched his chin, glazing his eyes in disinterest, "Only what's on the Legion website," he lied.

"Okay. Sorry, I was just curious."

Pandora took a step forwards, cutting off anything Omega could have said in retort. She looked at the two, "Well, change of plans. I don't get to have fun with my friend Thetis here all the time, and we _are_just having a casual date, so I was thinking that could come with us."

"Whatever."

"Thought you'd say that," she sighed, "oh well, there was something I wanted to check over by the sea wall there." She pointed to where a great wall towered several meters above sea level. It was a fair distance away, and would be a good walk to get there, "Since you don't want to go swimming, we might as well, right? Besides, I heard there was a good dock over there, just in case you change your mind."

Omega shrugged his shoulders, "Meh." The trio took off towards the wall, ignored by the crowds. Thetis and Pandora chatted happily about random things while Omega watched for any sign of trouble. His efforts were wasted, and he knew it, but paranoia was a part of being who he was. The God of Destruction would never allow himself to be caught off guard. Unfortunately, about half way to the wall, Thetis did just that.

"Hey guy, what's your name, anyways?"

The simple question took Omega so far off guard that he stopped, blinking. Perhaps he should've paid a little less attention to his surroundings and a little more to what his date and her friend were saying...

"Er..."

"Hey, I asked you what your name is!" Thetis puffed out his cheeks in annoyance.

Omega blinked again, desperately trying to come up with something suitable to say. In the meantime, "Uh, I don't usually give my name out."

"Well, you're going to have to today," White teased.

"Oh come on, can't you just give me a nickname or something? That's what everyone else does," he pleaded.

Pandora smirked, "Now really, do you want to leave your name in the hands of this guy?" she pointed her thumb back at Thetis.

"Hey!"

"I'm just joking, don't worry!" Pandora laughed. Thetis continued to look put out, although more comically than before (whether or not it was on purpose was beyond Omega). Pandora laughed even more, smiling as she did so. Thetis began making funny faces at her, sending her into hysterics. He kept waving his tongue, rolling his eyes and pulling his ears and nose into many different shapes to keep her guffawing. At this point, Pandora was laughing fit to burst, sometimes having to gasp desperately for air. In time, however, she joined in, and a fierce competition began.

Then, Thetis turned his attention to Omega. Taken slightly by surprise, Omega stopped. Then he started walking again, ignoring the blue mega man's attempts to crack his serious demeanor. This continued for some time, until Omega had had enough of it. A sudden mischievous urge took him, and just as Thetis was about to prepare another funny face, Omega turned around swiftly, baring his fangs and emitting a deep barking roar. His red eyes glinted dangerously and his hands were poised like claws. Thetis yelped, jumping back and falling butt-first into the sand. Pandora giggled as Omega smirked, returning to his path. Thetis' eyes were wide, fearful. What had he just seen? Then-

"Holy cow! That was so scary, I was like, eek! You gotta show me how to do that, that was so awesome! I wanna know how to scare people flat on their arses like that, come on, can you show me pleeeeeeeeeease? And hey, you haven't told us your name yet! Come on, what is it what is it-?" he whined, words bubbling out like a fountain.

Omega peered back at him, aghast. "Does that kid ever shut up?" he asked Pandora.

"Not that I know of," she returned.

"Hey, I'm still here you know!"

"And where you are, I don't want to be," Omega stated. Without a backwards glance he began sprinting towards the sea wall.

"Hey, no fair! You gotta say when we start a race! Headstarts aren't fair!" Thetis dashed after Omega, Pandora doing her best to follow him. Omega put his hands over his ears, shrieking playfully, "Augh, the siren child! Run for your lives!"

"Who you calling a siren! Sirens are females, you idiot!"

"And your point is?"

"What the? What's that supposed to mean!" Thetis charged forwards with a howl, increasing his speed.

"Ahahahaha!" Omega snickered cruelly, sticking his tongue out at the Mega Man. Hah, he'd forgotten how fun it was to poke fun at his opponents!

"Gwaaaargh!" roared the blue Mega Man, pouncing on Omega as soon as he was within reach. The two tumbled to the ground, rolling forwards. They stopped with a thud, Thetis winded as Omega held him to the ground with one hand. "Hahah, who's the big bad Mega Man now, eh?"

"Why... _huff_... _huff_... you...!"

Pandora appeared behind Omega, breathing hard, "Holy crow, you two are hard to catch up with! Now let Thetis go, he's just a kid."

"Aww, do I have to?" Omega stood up fully. Thetis attempted to get up, but found Omega's foot on his chest. He kept squirming, but to no avail.

"Yes, you do."

"Fine. Spoilsport."

Omega brought his foot up. Without something to restrain them, Thetis' wild throes turned him over onto his stomach faster than he could react to them. He ended up flat on his face, then pushed up with one hand, the other clutching his painful nose.

"Oooooowww..."

"That's what you get for picking a fight with _me_," Omega gloated.

"Piss off," Thetis grimaced, rubbing his nose. He let it go, apparently it wasn't too damaged.

"Still... he raised a good point... _huff_... you still haven't told us your name yet," White pointed out.

Omega frowned. He looked around quickly, then changed the subject, "Hey, we're here!"

They were indeed there. The sea wall was to the group's left, protecting the beach from the deep waters beyond it. It started low off the beach, slowly getting higher and higher off as they went. The trio looked over the edge, watching the clear salty waters lap at the metal wall. As they walked along it, the water beyond the wall seemed to become darker and much, _much_ deeper.

"So, they put this here to protect against a drop-off?" Omega pondered aloud.

"Well, sorta. I think they first put this wall here so that they could build along the other side of it. But, well, it's doubled as a guard as well. There are some docks along it too, really good for boats. And they've got some great environmental regulations too! Keeps this water here nice and healthy! I wish they'd just do that for other areas of the world as well..." Thetis informed.

"Have you taken a look at the wasteland outside of the city? A bit late for environmental concern, if you ask me," Omega stated boldly. Thetis seemed to expand with indignation, his face red with anger.

"And it's oblivious jerks like you that made it that way, and _keep_ it that way! Don't you idiots realize that the environment can still be saved? Humanity just has to make an effort, unlike what people like you do! Don't you get it, you stupid...!"

Omega ignored the rant, continuing to gaze down at the waters below. By now they were quite deep, the bottom completely hidden by a veil of dark, almost black blue. A dock appeared several meters in the distance. He didn't realize when Thetis quit talking, or see the devilish glint that passed between Pandora and Thetis' eyes.

"Looks like a good enough time as any," Thetis whispered in Pandora's ear.

"Heh, he's gonna pay for being rude to me!" Pandora chuckled.

They snuck up on their prey, who was still engaged with the water below, wondering how it could look so clean. Pandora tip-toed to the side, grabbing Omega's attention.

"Oh, uh.."

Thetis took advantage of Omega's state, rushing forward and planting his palms firmly on Omega's back. Before he had time to react, Thetis pushed fiercely.

"See you next fall!" she finished. Omega flailed uselessly as he fell a full ten meters to the water, hitting it with a large _splash_. The moment he hit it, he knew his secret was in trouble. Never, in his life, had Omega been able to swim. As God of Destruction, he'd always worn armor that made him sink like a stone. Not a problem, usually; he could breath water as easily as air. His cooling systems weren't fussy. Unfortunately, he _highly_ doubted that, as small as the barriers between humans and reploids were, they could both breath water the same way he could. And if they saw him breathe water...

Omega struggled against the wet confines of the ocean, trying to gain purchase in the liquid. His efforts yielded no result; his wild movements did little to keep him afloat. To add insult to injury, his hair was full of water and getting in the way, entangling him. Not only that, even without his gear, his battle-oriented design had extra defensive features added inside of him. It was fairly light, but not light enough to stop his descent, only add to it. So Omega sank, holding onto the air in his pseudo-lungs for as long as he could. Omega could not panic, he was designed not to. However, he was as close to it as he'd ever been. He tried to use his instincts, hoping that there was something in the back of his mind that knew about swimming. No luck. Whatever that cursed original creator of his had programmed for his instincts, he'd neglected the act of staying above water. Perhaps alright at the time, his original body hadn't exactly been lightweight itself. But it did him no good now. He continued to sink, well beyond what anyone on the surface could see.

X X X X X

Crouched behind the wall, Thetis laughed. Pandora was doing the same, patting Thetis on his back for a job well done. The moment they'd pushed Omega over, they'd ducked behind the sea wall to avoid anything that her date might have thrown at them. They guffawed loudly, considering to each other what Omega would do once he got to the surface.

"My god, hahaha! We'd better cover our ears, he's gonna be _so_ pissed!" she crooned.

"Huheehee! Yeah, it's going to be a good thing that he's down there and we're up here! There's no telling what he'd do if he got his hands on us! Kyahah!"

"Heehee, he'd wring our necks for sure!"

"Hoo boy, Can you imagine? He'd be hard put to swim, trying to wring our necks at the same time!" Thetis continued guffawing, but stopped abruptly when he realized that Pandora had stopped, "White, what's wrong?"

"Thetis, why isn't he up yet?"

Thetis' eyes widened, "Hey, did he say something to you-"

"Oh my God, how did I forget? Oh God."

"What, what'd he say?" Thetis squeaked.

Pandora was up and looking over the sea wall in a flash, concern like never before etched on her face.

"He said he doesn't swim!"

Thetis was over the wall in a millisecond. "Megamerge!" He yelled, transforming into his powerful swimming armor. He aimed at the deep blue water, hoping that it was where he'd pushed Omega in. Of course, the water was free of ripples or bubbles of any sort, nothing showing that he was aiming for the right spot. He hit the water with a huge plume of water jumping into the air behind him.

X X X X X

Omega kept struggling, his insides fit to burst. Pure instinct kicked in. He finally released the air in his system, entirely involuntarily. It was too late. With no data in his head for swimming, all Omega could do was attack to water in desperation, hoping that it would work. His mindset was dangerous. The previous near-panic he'd been in brought his fighting instincts to full fruitation. In his mindless condition, Omega simply attacked every molecule of water he could. However, since it did not result in enough lift for swimming, it only brought his crazed brain further frustration. To put it simply, Omega was putting himself in a frenzy. He writhed and snarled and clawed and kicked, but no bubbles rose, nothing happened, so he kept attacking, biting, and twisting.

Had a school of fish happened upon him at that moment, it would have been shredded in an instant. Omega was without reason, purely intent on attacking.

This water was bad. He didn't sink as much as he should have. But he still sank. But where was the ground? This was bad. The water was an enemy. It was bad.

A shape emerged from the gloom. It swam towards him, trying to get to him as fast as it could.

"Hey, over here!" It called, trying to get Omega's attention.

It was a mistake. In his maddened form, Omega's mind turned all of it's rage towards the figure. The blame went to the thing faster than anything else in the underwater world.

The water was an enemy. An enemy was bad. This thing swam in the water. Was it the water? It was. This thing was the water. The water was bad. The water was an enemy. This thing was an enemy...

The moment it reached out a hand (to attack?), Omega struck. He turned in the water, swiping with his right hand at the thing's face. It was a powerful blow, the thing reeled in the direction of his hit. Now turning in the water, in a way he didn't like, Omega rotated his hips. Bringing his elbow straight to the thing's gut, he forced a good amount of air out of it. It countered, kicking at his face and releasing a thrust of energy from it's feet. It sent Omega back a foot in the water, but as he turned around to attack again, the thing was gone. Perhaps it had retreated? Omega tried to gain a good stance in the water, but was quickly angered by the lack of footing and began thrashing again.

A heavy force hit him in the back of the head. Stunned, Omega saw stars, his instincts not sure what to make of this situation. He was grabbed, but didn't respond to the touch. The water didn't do that...

Suddenly, the sea began to pass by at an incredible pace. He, along with whatever was grabbing him, were headed to the surface. They breached the surface with a gush of water tailing them. Falling back to the water, Omega expected to land back on the sea. It was not to be. The hard shock of ground traveled up Omega's unprepared legs, collapsing them. They'd landed on a dock.

Another hard force hit him in the back. Omega instantly spit up his lungful of water, coughing as he tried to regain air. He peered around the ocean's horizon, trying to find his attacker. He growled, making to get up on his hands. A lit blade of some sort stopped him in his tracks. He flopped back to the dock, breathing heavily. His instinct dissolved as he lay there on his chest, trying to make sense of the confused world.

"Goddamnit man, remind me never to rescue you again," wheezed a voice, the same from before. "You're a terror when you get in a panic, I'll tell ya..."

"Are you two okay? Is he alright, Thetis?"

Thetis grunted, "Yeah, he's fine, but I'm not! Boy, he's got a punch! _Hack_!" Thetis began sputtering violently, "Ooh, his hit did a bit more damage than I thought... I gotta sit down..."

Omega heard a _thunk_ as Thetis fell to the dock's surface, hurting. He himself wasn't doing too well himself. Having let out the water in his lungs too quickly, he was gasping to fill his airways and dull the pain that throbbed through his systems. With Thetis' halberd at the side of its master, Omega was able to move again. He sat up, pawing at his chest to sooth the hurt.

Pandora knelt down between the two, trying to tend to their injuries. Omega pushed her away, turning his back to her. She huffed, then turned to Thetis, who seemed to be in more need anyways. However, there was nothing she could do there either, so she sat down and took a breather with them, doing her best as moral support.

It took a long while for Thetis to recover. Omega was doing much better, his advanced healing system having taken care of his wounds long ago. He was seated comfortably, sneezing occasionally due to leftover water. Thetis finally stood up, coughing, "Alright, down to business."

"Business? What do you mean?" Omega asked.

"You, my fiendish friend, are going to learn to swim, even if it kills me. After all, if I ever have to try and rescue you again, it probably would anyways."

Pandora snorted with the joke, but Omega took it seriously. "Alright, fine. Let's just get it over with," he scowled. As much as he hated to admit it, he did need to learn to swim. Even if it meant learning from some brat.

"Okay, we'll start right here. Get in the water, and hold the dock so you don't sink."

Omega did as he was told. He glanced around at the sea wall above, "There better not be people watching this," he growled, trying to hide his embarrassment.

"No worries, there aren't any. I'll keep watch just in case and shoo any that do come, alright?" Pandora said. She smiled, looking to the wall. Omega actually stopped hating her for a second. She seemed to understand how he felt... But it didn't last long. Especially when his lower body began dragging at his upper, trying to bring it into the depths, "Gah! I'm still sinking!"

"Relax just let yourself float for a bit, get used to the water. The ocean is actually pretty buoyant, you know," Thetis instructed from beside him. He was in the water, letting his legs hang gently. He was un-merged, his hoodie wet and the Model L doing dolphin hops in the water around them.

Again, Omega did as he was bid. His hair floated just below the surface and his legs hung perpendicular to the dock. At first he didn't notice it, but was he... less heavy than before? His weight didn't seem to immediately drag him under like it had whenever he'd worn armor. Omega smiled, "Hey, I'm not as heavy... I''m not just sinking!"

Thetis laughed, "Yeah, amazing how little you weigh under the waves! Although, you do seem a little heavier than usual."

"That's because he's a custom-made reploid, am I right? I knew that black skin wasn't the end of it!" Pandora smirked. Well, part of his secret was out, but at least it wasn't the bloody part. "Argh, there's a person up there. I'll go get rid of them, okay?" She raced off, heading for a ramp leading off the dock.

"Are you custom? Who made you?" Thetis asked.

"Too many questions, bub. Yes, I'm custom, but as to who built me, I'm not telling you anything!"

"Well, judging by that punch," Thetis chortled, "You're a fighting model. Well, can't say I blame you for holding your tongue, anyone wanting a custom fighter model reploid can't be up to any good. But enough of that, try kicking your legs, like this." Thetis demonstrated.

He did. The slight propulsion lifted him, getting rid of a lot of the gravity.

"Okay, maybe a little harder for you."

Omega kicked harder, until the pull from below was almost gone.

"Okay, now try treading water with one of your hands, see? When you're swimming, you use your legs for most of your propulsion and your arms for stability or steering. That's for the basic stuff, anyways."

Complying, Omega began pushing at the water with one of his hands, as if swatting away an insect (only underwater). He switched hands, getting the feel for it with both arms. "Okay... this isn't too hard."

Thetis pushed away from the dock, swimming leisurely at the surface. He got a few feet away, then beckoned Omega to follow suit. He tried, but he didn't get far before his weight became too much and he went under. This time he didn't struggle, but kicked harder with his legs and swooped his hands downward slightly. He breached the surface, but barely. Thetis grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back to the dock.

"Okay, almost. You just need to kick a little harder, and use your arms a bit more too." He showed Omega the proper form, than signaled for the two to try it together. They did. Omega managed to keep his face above water this time, but only because of his nose. After a short rest, they kept going, swimming away and to the dock numerous times, getting farther away each time. Eventually, Omega found a swimming style that suited him better and stuck with it, almost managing to keep up with Thetis. Pandora finally reappeared on the dock, dressed in her bikini.

"Alright Thetis, you've hogged him long enough. He's _my_ date!"

"Haha!" Thetis giggled, squirting water at her. "Then come in here, I dare ya!"

She did, with a splash. Omega's face was smothered with droplets, but Thetis ducked under water just in time to avoid them. He splashed her back, and a small water war began. Thetis emerged the clear winner. Eventually they stopped, taking a breather at the dock. Both Thetis and Pandora were sunning on the dock, but Omega was still in the water, not quite over the novelty of his new ability. Suddenly he yelped, swatting at whatever was playfully attacking the ends of his pant legs.

"What the heck?" he threw himself out of the water, gazing back into it to try and see he culprit. It wasn't there. He did, however notice his heavy pocket, He dove his hand into it, bringing out a familiar box-like object.

"Model L!" Thetis laughed, "get outta there!"

The biometal flashed it's eyes at Thetis, then shot free of Omega's fist and back into the water. Thetis started howling, much to Omega's bewilderment.

"Wha-?"

"Okay Thetis, spill it, what did she say?" Pandora asked. She seemed to be indicating the biometal, which was back at the surface of the water and blinking.

"She said she didn't want to..." Thetis laughed, clutching his stomach.

"And...?" Pandora continued.

"She didn't want to... cause he's cute! Gwahahahah!"

Omega blushed, his face a bright red, "Oh, so that's how that thing wants to play, is it?" He grabbed the biometal before it could react, holding it up, "I'll show you cute! Okay guys, guess a number!"

Mystified, the others followed along, "Uh, five?"

"Twelve?"

"I dunno, let's try eight!" Omega grinned, flinging the biometal out to sea. It hit the water... and bounced. The Model L kept going, bouncing six more times, then on its last time it did a pretty little twirl and sank with a _plop_. "What's she saying now?"

Thetis was rolling on the dock, uncontrollable laughter racking his small frame, "Hahahahah! Ohohoo, You don't wanna know, man, you don't wanna know! Kuahahaha!"

With all seriousness, Omega looked out to sea, "Well, that's a shame. I only got seven bounces out of that..."

That was the final straw. Thetis wailed with unending mirth, rolling to get rid of it. Unfortunately for him, Pandora took full advantage of the situation, pushing him into the water. Now it was Omega's turn to laugh, but it was so small that he was the only one who knew he'd done it. It was such a small chuckle, in fact, that he wondered if he's just imagined it. But... it felt good...

Really good...

Thetis reappeared with an angry look plastered on his face. "Oh you, You're going to get it! Hey, wait a minute..."

Pandora paused, listening intently.

"You're the only one who hasn't been pushed in yet, have you?"

Pandora realized what he was up to immediately. "Oh no you don't, I'm not letting you get back up here and push me in!" she took up a defensive position, ready for Thetis. But it didn't help at all.

"Oi, you!" He yelled at Omega, "Guess what! You did so well in my swimming class that you can graduate! Alright, ceremony time! THROW HER IN!" he roared.

Omega had Pandora before she could utter a word. She did, however, manage a shriek, followed by a high pitched complaint, "Don't you dare, don't you dare, don't-!"

Omega hoisted her above her head, ignoring her, "Hey, it's 24xx, right Thetis?"

"Yup!"

"Okay then, for grad 24xx!" he yelled. Pandora flew through the air, screaming. She landed a good two meters away from the dock.

"Hey, nice throw! I think you broke a a record in... oh god! Oh no, ahahahahaha!" Thetis began laughing once again. Omega looked at him with his eyebrows fully raised.

"What, what'd I do?"

"You hit Model L!" Thetis cried gleefully.

Omega couldn't take it. He snorted, doing his level best to control his laughter but failing miserably. He toppled over into the water. Once he was in the water, he was able to get himself under control again. He surfaced, watching Pandora trying to console an aggravated biometal.

Thetis turned to him, holding his palm flat in the air. "Okay man, you deserve a high-five, that was awesome."

Omega looked at the gesture with pure confusion. Thetis sighed, grabbing Omega's hand with his other one and slapping it against his upraised one.

"Like this, dummy."

Omega frowned at Thetis, "I'm no dummy." He proceeded to dunk him under the water with the stolen appendage.

X X X

The shadows lengthened at Hunters camp, bringing with them the end of the day. Omega nodded at Thetis and Pandora as they walked away, back to where they came from. He smirked as dust followed them, the pair chatting about unknown things in the distance. Omega closed the door behind him as he entered the hangar, his home. He closed and locked the door, sighing as the locks thudded into place.

They still hadn't gotten his name yet... and he still needed some new clothes. Oddly enough, Omega felt that it was a good day. Yes, he'd done nothing but socialize, and learn to swim in the meantime. Normally Omega considered that sort of thing wasted time, but for some reason, today felt complete. He smiled. Deep in his heart he felt something... out of place. But he kept on smiling, despite the foreign thing in his chest, even as he lay down to sleep.

* * *

Hey, you there? Thanks for the beta-read, Captain Greene!


	17. Trainees

Disclaimer: The three kitsuroids belong to me. So does anyone else I have mentioned belonging to me before. Apart from that, no one is mine.

SubZeroChimera- "Wow, it's been a little while since we've last made an appearance in this fic!"

Omega- "Speak for yourself."

SubZeroChimera- "Oh shut it. Well then, it's been a while since _I _last made an appearance then, but now I'm back!

Omega- "Unfortunately."

SubZeroChimera- "What was that?"

Omega- "Oh, nothing." _whistles innocently_

SubZeroChimera- "You know that only makes you look even more guilty."

Omega- "Meh. Not like you'd be able to do anything."

SubZeroChimera- Oh, really? Well, we'll see about that! Anyways, enjoy the next chapter everyone (heaven knows it's overdue)!"

* * *

The gritty floor scratched against Omega's cheek as he stirred from his rest. Blinking, the God of Destruction oriented himself. He began flexing his fingers to prepare them for whatever was to come that day. He got up on his hands and knees, arching his back to work out several kinks among it. Then he sat down and straightened out one arm, twisted his hip around in the way his hand pointed, then did it again with the other arm. While he worked on his legs, Omega pondered his course of action for the day.

Maybe he should do some more shopping? There were still a few things he needed to gather for his hangar. A bucket for cleaning things with (namely himself), some more clothes, a padlock to keep intruders out (the one that'd come with the hangar was barely holding _itself_ together, much less the door) and maybe even some bedding. But hadn't that one pseudoroid said she'd be over today? Omega wasn't too sure he wanted to let that iguana reploid loose in his hangar, at least not without supervision. However, she'd never specified when she would come...

"Pffffffpht..." Omega exhaled in annoyance. He scratched an itch on his back as he weighed his options, finally deciding to stay and wait for the mutos reploid. Still, with no way of knowing when she'd arrive, waiting was bound to be a bit boring.

Omega smirked to himself. Wow, it'd only been a few days since he'd gotten out of that strange prison, but his patience had already reverted to normal. If he kept going that way, he'd be as rash as before getting imprisoned! Oh well, time to fix that. Omega had just the thing.

The king of killing stood up, mentally noting the distance he had in the hangar. Since his ship was a fighter model, designed for speed and maneuverability, it was a lot smaller than some of the other ships that the hunter's seemed to have. Because of this, there was plenty of room. Omega took a pose, breathing out slowly. He soothed his nerves, beginning one of his meditation routines. He took his sword, moving it with excruciating slowness in a variety of attack patterns. Offensive and defensive were combined into one as the God of Destruction deadened his mind of all but the concentration he used to swing his sword.

"Tuh!"

Omega cleaved through an imaginary foe with as much strength he could muster. This signaled a change from his smooth, slow strikes to fast and hard ones. He exhaled sharply every time, tensing his body and mind for the blow. Then, after a while, he switched back. The process went on for some time, until a familiar sound rung out.

_Bang_! _Clang_! _Bang_!

"Oi! You'd better be in there!"

There was no mistaking that voice or that raucous banging on the door. Iggy had arrived. Unfortunately, she'd also startled Omega, who attacked the moment she opened the door.

"Geeze, if you're not in h-!" Iggy stopped the moment she realized that a lit saber was millimeters away from her face. She stared with a slightly open mouth and _very_ open eyes. "Uhh... would you mind taking that away from my face, please?"

Omega panted, then realized what he was doing. He huffed as he withdrew the weapon, "Tch. You shouldn't barge in on people like that."

"Duly noted," she gulped.

"So. What do you want here?" Omega growled, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm here to do some maintenance on your ship, remember?" Iggy crossed her arms. This made the large tool kit she was holding even more evident. Omega let her meander past him as she entered the hanger, gazing at the magnificent ship.

"Right."

The red reploid stood to the side as the lizard gently caressed one side of the ship. Then, with miniscule movements, she opened some sort of hidden hatch. Iggy delved her large claws with surprising accuracy into the small compartment behind the hatch, dragging out some wires and a small panel.

"Ooh, looks like I came here in time. Your-"

"Save the tech-talk, mutos, it's annoying as hell," Omega bared some of his teeth in annoyance.

Iggy looked over at him, vexed, "What? So you can drive it, but you haven't got a clue how to repair it."

"Pretty much."

"Men," she sighed as she rolled her eyes.

Omega ignored the jibe and sat down, "Well, tell me when you're done."

Iggy looked over at him again, this time with confusion, "Huh? Aren't you going to do anything today except stare at me?"

"Well, I was planning on going to get some supplies or do a mission, but I'd rather make sure that you're not going to try anything in my hangar."

Iggy stopped working, a scowl on her face, "Try anything? Why the hell would I do that? The only thing you have in here that'd be worth "trying anything" with is this ship. And as a mechanic, I know a work of art when I see one, no way I'd be buggering about with it!" She patted the side of the ship's "neck" as if the draconian thing was alive. Then her mood changed, "Wait, supplies? You needed some?"

"Yeah. A bucket and some other stuff. Why'd you ask?" Omega questioned.

Iggy smirked as best as she could with her large jaw, "Well, from the looks of this ship, you might be needing some other stuff too. But since you're not that great with "tech-talk", I'm guessing you wouldn't be so good with the parts, either. So I'll tell you what; give me a list of the stuff you need, as well as the money needed to get them and the parts so that I can get 'em."

"And what would I be doing in the meantime?" Omega frowned.

Iggy stopped for a second to think, then snapped her claws together, "Oh right! Scimitar actually asked me on my way down here if I could try and convince you to do another mission. Maybe you could do that in the meantime! It would work out great , just in case you don't have enough money for the parts either."

"I'll see. Will this be enough?" Omega showed her everything in his wallet.

She shook he head, "Unfortunately, no, that's about 1000 short. And that's not counting whatever else you might need."

Omega grimaced, "Well, I guess I'm doing the mission then. Damnit. What kind of mission is it, anyways? It'd better be worth it."

"It's a practice mission, I believe. We've just had some new pseudoroids join our team, but they're so new that they still need training."

"Which basically means that they're newly built and were created by someone with little expertise in mutos reploids or weaponry."

Iggy gave him a surprised glance, apparently astonished by his expertise in the manner, "Whoa, how'd you know that?"

"I used to, er, _work_ for a guy that was an expert on reploid technologies _and_ weapons. Technically, I'm actually a mutos reploid myself," Omega explained. The way he said "work" with hatred made Iggy suspicious, but she let the matter drop.

"Ahah, I _thought_ you were a custom model! But what makes you say that you're technically a mutos? I thought mutos were animal reploids?"

"A common misconception, actually. Mutos reploids are reploids implemented with superior design, primarily for combat, as well as built in weapons systems. They used to be made to protect civilians from any sort of threat, but as soon as they were first made people found other ways to make them useful. Such as working as generators, water purification specialists, or by creating a reason for the civilians to have to be protected," Omega smirked. Iggy caught the meaning of his last statement and nodded. Omega continued, "Although, I guess people are starting to call them pseudoroids nowadays, I haven't a clue why,"

"You don't?" Iggy asked. It was Omega's turn to nod. Iggy decided to explain this to Omega, "Well, it's usually common knowledge among anyone who works with mechanics or reploid technologies, but I guess not. Pseudoroids are basically mutos reploids with the DNA of a biometal. Biometals are such good bases for any sort of combat reploid that every mutos reploid made today is made with at least a part of a biometal DNA sequence. Of course, Legion is the only one with access to biometals, so only they can give out the DNA needed to make pseudoroid, at least that's how it's supposed to work. Raiders occasionally get their hands on pseudoroids, but that's usually only when they join the raiders of their own free will, or the raiders get their hands on a dead one with an intact DNA sequence and make their own."

"But how come every mutos reploid I've come across has called itself something like a "kangaroid" or a pseudaroid? Aren't there any normal mutos reploids without a biometal DNA?" Omega pondered aloud.

"Nope. All mutos reploids have Biometal DNA, often called Fire, Ice, Electric or Normal DNA for short. Or, Elemental DNA in general. And the whole "kangaroid" thing is just a species classification. They're put into different "species" depending on what type of animal or animal group they are based on. Most of the animals are extinct, of course, but there's a bunch of books on what they used to look like."

"So basically, everyone is so stupid when it comes to building mutos reploids that they have to use a biometal DNA as a base and an animal as a design plan. Geeze, what happened to all the technology of the old days? Aren't there any competent reploid specialists left to build mutos reploids without Legion's help or the Elemental DNA?"

"Ahahahah! That's a good way of looking at it!" Iggy laughed. "Nope. There was a guy, that Albert nut, who was supposedly able to make pseudoroids without the Elemental DNAs, but I think he just used that Model A. I heard a rumor that he actually made the biometal, but I doubt it. Some idiot said that Albert started with A, so Albert made the biometal from his own DNA, but I think that was just some nutjob rambling. The biometals were supposed to be based off ancient heroes, right? No way he could've made one after himself, right? Right?"

Iggy's words began to wander as she tried to guess what could and could not be true about the biometals. This began to annoy Omega, so he helped put her musings to rest, "Yeah, it's an ancient hero."

Iggy crossed her arm as she stared at Omega, silently demanding an answer. He responded by coming up with a lie about something he'd heard, "Oh yeah, back where I came from there used to be a story about a reckless little reploid called Axl. Schmuck could transform temporarily into enemies he'd defeated, so he worked for the crime-fighting group of his time. Of course, the story ends with him just up and disappearing into thin air. If you ask me, the twit probably chickened out and ran when he found out about the strong maverick that'd appeared shortly after his disappearance." Omega made no effort to mention that the maverick had been him.

Iggy looked dissatisfied, as if she'd been wanting more, but Omega gave her a glance that showed his utter disinterest in continuing the story. She huffed, "Well, that was a nice discussion, but we'd better get back to the matter at hand. Since you said yes to the mission, I'll just phone Scimitar here and get some transportation arranged for you."

Omega nodded, then let her be. She took out a communicator from her toolbox, delicately pressing the buttons as she looked down at the screen. Scimitar's face appeared, and they began a discussion which Omega completely ignored.

After a while, Iggy looked back over at Omega, "Hey. Last time you said you'd gotten followed. You think that might happen again today?"

Omega pondered the question, then answered, "Maybe. I think it's best to assume that it will, just in case."

"Alright," Iggy returned to her conversation. It wasn't long until it was finished and she put her communicator away.

"So. How'd it go?" Omega grunted.

"They'll teleport both of us outta the hanger and onto the main base, then drop me off at a shopping center while you're doing the mission. After that, they'll send a fighter to come pick me up, then drop me off on the ship, and that fighter will drop you off at the outskirts of Hunter's Camp."

"By the sounds of it, their base is an airship. But why don't they just teleport me back when I'm done?"

Iggy tutted, "Because we don't have our own teleporter circuit, which would be nigh on impossible to obtain, so we have to hack the Legion one to do any teleporting. And since you can only do this once a day without Legion noticing, doing it twice would raise suspicion. I mean, big businesses pay to teleport goods all the time that way, but that's only one way. Doing it more than one way would tip them off that someone was using the system for teleporting people, and since only really rich or important people are allowed to do that, they'd know someone was hacking them. And then they'd do an investigation, people would be arrested, etc etc. And before you ask, yes, we could use the transportation circuits in Hunter's Camp, but you'd need a Hunter's License to use it and I doubt you have one. Not to mention you'd still have to get to the transporter first to register the location on your license," she explained.

"That system seems pointlessly confusing," Omega scorned. "But you're right, I don't have a license, so I guess I'll have to settle for the fighter."

"Yup. Now come over here and grab my shoulder or tail, the teleportation sequence is about to start." She beckoned Omega over, so he complied. A short minute later, Omega felt the familiar sensation of being turned into data and transported to a new location.

X X X X X

Greens of many different shades glowed dully across the landscape. Orbs of colour floated through the skies and above the ground and buildings of an olive hued city. Some of these lights seemed to take on humanoid shapes, while others drifted around aimlessly. Some were grouped together, apparently talking with each other, while a few levitated in one place as if contemplating something or working on another thing. Many of the buildings they were floating beside looked like something a person might find in a downtown area. One of the buildings dotting the street was squat and heavily armored, but for no apparent reason other than appearance. Inside of it, the shape of a seemingly human light was sat at a computer, staring at the screen.

Sighing, the reploid watched as teleporter signals scrolled down the screen. Of all the jobs in cyberspace, this was one of the most boring. The newly recruited soul had decided to join the Cyberspace Police Force to get rid of some of the boredom of dwelling in the afterlife, but was so far having little luck. In fact, joining the force had done pretty much the opposite.

But, still, what had he expected? It's not like Cyberspace really needed much of a police force anyways. Sure, there was rounding up the occasional maverick soul that had entered cyberspace, and then watching them in prison. But lately, Cyberspace was so peaceful that it was boring! Even the raider and maverick souls settled down soon after entering. And that's why the recruit had joined the police force, to stop the monotony of the afterlife. But still...

What idiot had decided that monitoring teleportation signals was important! It wasn't even for Cyberspace either. The recruit had been assigned to watch the teleporter circuit's patterns for the _real_ world. Not Cyberspace. The real world. Reality as everyone called it.

Bleh. Whatever.

The only interesting thing that'd ever happened was when the recruit thought he'd seen a teleport signal disappear from the data bank the other day. And considering how minor that was, it wasn't saying much for how interesting his job was.

A cyber elf trotted into the room. The recruit took minimal notice of it, since he already knew who it was.

"Hey Jackson."

The reptilian cyber-elf glanced around at the recruit, "Oh, hey." the cyber-elf was in his second stage form. He was fairly tall and lanky for an elf, and had a humanoid shape. A long tail swayed from side to side as the reptilian elf walked over to the recruit's desk. With his dexterous hands, he leap-frogged his way onto the desk. He tapped at the back of the computer, "How's it going?"

"As boring as ever," grouched the recruit. He opened up a drawer, picking out a piece of paper and a pen, writing down some numbers. "I take it you've come for the latest report?"

"Yup. We need the number of teleportations between 12 am and..." the cyber elf looked at a clock on the wall, "about one minute from now."

The recruit looked at his computer, noticing the number and writing it down, "Sure, there's about one thousand-"

The recruit stared. Again, he had seen a number on the screen, a bunch of data about a who, when, where from to where to just disappear off the screen. He paused all functions on the computer.

The cyber elf gave him an odd look, "What's wrong?"

The recruit ignore him. The stopped number on the computer said that there had been 1122 teleportations. The recruit glared at the computer, then scanned down the list, manually counting the teleports. His instincts screamed that something was up. After all, he had seen data disappear _twice_. He wasn't going to ignore the second time!

"Hello? Earth to recruit, what's wrong?" Jackson scowled, ticked-off about being ignored.

Thanking the heavens for making him a reploid, the recruit finished his counting. He knew he hadn't missed or over-counted any of the numbers, he was too good for that. But, for once, this knowledge filled him with dread.

"J... Jackson..."

"Yes?"

The open-mouthed recruit motioned for the elf to come and look at the screen. Grunting in annoyance, the cyber elf did as he was bid. The recruit pointed at the number of teleportations, "That says 1122, right?"

"Yes... so? Just put that down on the report," the elf scowled.

"No... come here, count the teleportations with me."

The elf again did as he was bid. It took them only a minute to count the amount of teleportation numbers.

"How many did you count?" The reploid asked his superior.

Jackson grimaced, his irritation replaced by worry, "There were 1121. We know this computer doesn't lie. It won't take misinformation, none at all! And yet, here we are. It's contradicting itself. There were supposed to be 1122 teleportations, but we only counted 1121."

"So then, let me get this straight," The recruit replied, "this computer, a cyberspace computer that cannot _possibly _make any mistakes, has lost the data for one of the teleportations."

"Lies! Most likely it accidentally counted the same teleportation twice," the elf sneered, attempting to reassure itself. It failed.

"No no, the data disappeared. I saw it do that, this is the second time. The first time I thought I was just seeing things."

Jackson swirled around, yelling at the recruit, "Lies! All lies! This is just something you cooked up to get attention! There hasn't been anything like this in centuries, and I don't know how you heard about it, but so help me god if you're lying!"

The recruit yelped, jumping, "No honestly, it happened! Here, I'll bring up the file and show you!"

The recruit brought up the file of the night he'd last seen the phenomenon. He and the elf counted the number of teleportations, then compared it to the number the computer said had happened.

It was one short.

The recruit looked at Jackson, who was staring at the screen. Jackson, the fearless little elf who'd helped Zero in the first part of the resistance's battle against Neo Arcadia. Jackson, one of the strongest of the police force's fighters. Jackson the invincible, so named because of his special ability. Jackson, whose face was a mixture of disbelief and terror.

"The Netherworld..."

X X X X X

"Alright, that's all? Got it!"

Iggy looked up from the list. Omega had written down several items that he thought would go a long way to furnish his hangar. A bucket, a pillow, some clothes (he'd checked his sizes and written them down on the list), a comb for his hair, a first-aid kit for reploids, and a box or two to keep all of his stuff in. The iguana reploid nodded sagely as she took in the requested supplies.

"So, just one question. About the clothes, any colours you'd prefer?"

Omega thought about it for a few seconds, then replied, "Nah, black and dark red are nice colours, but I think I'd be best off with the type of clothes that all the hunters wear. You know what I mean, right?"

"Stuff that makes you fit in more? I got it. That would pretty much be a jacket and one of those white utility belts... then again, there are a lot of hunters that wear whatever they want, so I can splurge a little if I've got any money left..." Iggy disappeared towards the hangar of the raider's ship, muttering to herself about what types of clothes she could get and what would look good and this and that. Omega was fairly confused about how a pseudaroid could be so interested in garments, but he chalked it up to the female personality and moved on to more important business.

As Omega surveyed his surroundings, he realized that this ship was different from the one he'd been on before. Panels of assorted sizes were hidden across the hall, no doubt concealing defensive weaponry. Militaristic raiders walked up and down the halls, tending to various duties aboard the ship. Thick doors lined the halls. Omega deduced that he was on the command floor, since most of those passing him seemed to be navigators or decorated fighters. Another look down the other end of the hall showed several double-doors and medical staff talking among themselves, apparently relaxed. The general lack of injured soldiers heading to their portion of the ship showed why.

A commotion began to Omega's right. One of the raiders was pointing in his direction, whispering to his friend. Another stared, seemingly surprised with Omega's wardrobe. Murmurs of excitement, wonder and tension started to fill the hall as more and more of the raiders noticed Omega's presence. One raider, who was walking on the other side of the large corridor, waved, "Hey there!"

Omega was stunned at the raider's audacity. He managed to keep his mouth shut as he gawked, but the rest of his perplexed face gave away his surprise. He slowly turned his head, watching the raider as he went away and high-fived a comrade further down the hall. Did these raiders not realize just who he was? They seemed to know him, no doubt rumors had spread about his earlier feats, but no one seemed to be afraid of him. Well, at least not the one. Some of the others were shuffling away, trying to keep out of his sight. Omega had seen this sort of behavior before, long ago. Back when he and Zero were still one. Some had admired them, seeking admiration in return. Others feared them, had seen their power and were afraid of their efficient brutality.

In short? They looked at him as a part of their crew. A _comrade_...

Omega stiffened, glaring at those around him. No _way_ he would be a comrade! No way he would be a friend! He was not one of them, why did they look at him as such! Rage began to swell in his heart. His whole body tensed. Omega's fighting instincts were beginning to stir, they saw him as one of them, did they? They saw him as a friend, did they! Time to show them just how _friendly_ he could be!

Omega grimaced, showing his silent challenge. His body was tight and his fists were clenched, roaring with body language for anyone to challenge him. Some of the raiders noticed this instantly, backing off from his intimidating posture. Others noticed their friends and followed suit. The jovial atmosphere rapidly deserted the area around Omega as he defended his independence from the raiders. Body language is a larger part of communication than spoken words, and that was evident here. The whispers of the raiders darkened, many of them realizing that the new one in the group was not an ally, but an intruder. A noise distracted Omega, he looked to it as it approached.

Scimitar's footsteps echoed down the hall. He lazily scanned around at the disquieted raiders huddled by the sides of the hall. He frowned at his subordinates, "Well? Don't you all have things to do?"

The effect was instantaneous. Like an alpha wolf appearing calmly among his distressed pack, the raiders relaxed, going back to their chores. A few mutters still traveled here and there among their ranks, but for the most part, things were back to normal. Even Omega calmed his tense body, but only enough to show that he meant Scimitar no harm.

"So? I heard that you had another mission for me today," Omega said shortly.

The raider leader nodded, turning and walking back down the hall. Omega took the cue and followed. Scimitar began to talk, "Yes, I believe I can assume that Iggy filled you in on the basics. Our new mutos reploids are basic combat models, they haven't much in the way of elemental capabilities or long range weapons. However, they have very strong bodies and quick reflexes. Because of this, we want to train them in martial arts and stealth. Now, I have a friend who's good with stealth and has been working with them on that, but I thought that you'd be the best candidate to teach them combat techniques. You seem, after all, fairly experienced in the matter."

"You have no idea," Omega replied, "but still, these are pseudaroids we're talking about, correct? They're bound to have or be better at a different fighting style than me, since they've most likely got a Normal DNA, am I right?"

"For the most part, yes," Scimitar responded. He opened a door for Omega and let him pass through first, "But surprisingly, we've managed to make these reploids without an Elemental DNA. So they're likely to be able to adapt to any sort of fighting style you teach them."

"They were made by you?" Omega asked curiously.

"Well, not me. Alfredo and Iggy actually worked on these ones, using a little help from some of the data we excavated from that one dig site. You remember, the one from your first mission for us? It was a most valuable find, even if most of the data was corrupted in some way or another."

Omega nodded thoughtfully, wondering what sort of thing they'd discovered. His musings were cut short when they arrived at a large door, much thicker than the others. Omega looked up at it as Scimitar elaborated for him.

"Ah, here we are. Welcome to the training rooms."

Omega looked over at Scimitar as he opened the door. A wide hallway met his gaze at the other side of the door, with more, thick doors spaced widely apart. Windows showed through to strong-walled rooms where raiders were training with many different types of weapons. Some were practicing with their weapons, others were working on combat with other raiders, and a few of the tougher ones were attacking battered mechaniloids who were programmed to hurt, not kill. Omega admired how well-equipped the raider's ship was for battle practice, but noticed that his observations had left him far behind Scimitar, who was waiting at the end of the hall.

"They're in this room here," he said, pointing into a window to his side. "Now, the room at the end of this hall has some equipment that you might find useful for training, but apart from that, just make sure they're alive and relatively unharmed at the end of the day, hmm? Each of them does have a different elemental capability, but being different, they can't learn quite the same way as the others. Just teach them as much as you can and don't worry about specifics elements. Well, I'm off."

Scimitar walked off to do other business, leaving Omega to trot to the window and look in. There were three similarly designed reploids inside. Each of his pupils had black on their bellies, necks, arms and legs, much the same way as Omega's skin. However, on top of their lean frames, basic but thick armor was on their upper and lower legs, forearms, shoulders and chests. Simple black markings decorated this armor, accenting the black lines around their eyes. They had fox-like faces, elegantly curved snouts and ears pointing in whatever direction something interesting was in. They had two-jointed legs, ending with a foot with three large claws. One of the most noticeable things, however, was their three heavy, powerful-looking tails. And not three tails total, three tails _each_.

Omega instantly recognized what type of mutos they would be. Kitsune reploids, or likely kitsuroids.

Well, not a bad start for being a new reploidologists' first creations. They had the appearance of basic, yet well built fighter models. At least he wouldn't have to worry about breaking them too easily, Omega thought as he entered the room.

Of the three differently coloured kisturoids, the tan one was the first to approach him. The other two held back, the brownish-red one seemingly shy and the white/light gray one appeared uninterested in socializing.

"Are you the one who's gonna train us?" asked the tan one with the curiosity of a young boy.

Omega looked down at him, nodding, "Yes, I'll be your tutor today. I think we'll start with introductions, since it'll be counterproductive if we struggle with them later. Unfortunately, I don't give out my name, so you'll have to call me something else for now."

"Fair enough," shot the white one, moving forward. He had a cold, proud voice.

The fire brick coloured one spoke up with a fairly young feminine voice, "I heard that sensei was a word for a type of teacher. Can we call you sensei? I think sensei sounds nice for you..." she also moved up, but behind her brother.

Omega nodded, showing his acceptance of the name "sensei". It seemed fitting for this situation, after all. As well as getting the problem of his name over, he managed to discover the gender of his pupils. But still, he needed their names.

"Alright then, you can call me sensei. Now, what should I call you? I've heard that you each have an elemental affinity, so if you could tell me that as well..."

The tan one took the initiative before Omega could say anything more, "I'm the sand dancer kitsune, Kirukori! I can use electricity!"

"I'm the snow dancer kitsune, Morukori," huffed the white one, "and as you might've guessed, I can use some ice."

"And I'm Harukori, the only female and the ash dancer kitsune! I maybe can use some fire," said the last one.

Omega looked over the three fox reploids as he took in the information, then without warning he hit Kirukori roughly over the head, sending him to the floor.

"Hey, what was that for?" whined the tan kitsune.

"For interrupting me. It's not polite to interrupt someone when they're talking to you, _especially_ if they're about to teach you about fighting!" Omega snarled. Then he turned on the sister, "And you! I don't want you to start acting shy or anything pathetic like that! It's a sign of fear, and I'm not about to train anyone who won't use what I've taught them properly! I hate wasting my effort!"

Harukori straightened out immediately, stepping out from behind her brother as her personality suddenly changed, "Yes sir sensei! I won't act afraid any more!"

Morukori grunted disdainfully, swishing his white tails impudently, "Oh? I suppose it's my turn now, is it?"

Omega glared at the egotistical fox, "You bet your prissy little ears it is! I can see you've got an ego, and while there's nothing wrong with being confident, that won't work on me! I don't care if that's how you treat everyone else, if you start doing that with me I'll just kick your high-and-mighty ass and all three tails attached right off the ship! Do you hear me!"

Morukori's ego was deflated right then and there. He nodded meekly as Omega towered over him, holding all three tails low to the ground between his legs. However, when Omega let him free of his gaze, the kitsuroid stood tall. It was not a cocky gesture, but a proud one.

Kirukori got off the floor, dusting himself up as he moved back towards his kin. All three of them were attentively waiting upon Omega's next action, their ears up in the air. Omega hit a realization. These pseudaroids weren't just new. No doubt about it, thought Omega, they could not have been more than a day old. Each one of them was so rapt and willing to absorb information that the fact was undeniable. The last time he'd seen something like this was when he'd come back to Weil and a new mutos reploid freshly born off of Weil's operating table. Weil had introduced them right off the bat to make sure that neither of them attacked each other. Of course, Omega had been aggressive towards it, uncaring for it's feelings, and had thought little about going on an insane rant on how much fun he'd had slaughtering that last group of nincompoops Weil had ordered him to kill.

Deathtanz Mantisk had turned out aggressive, uncaring for others, slightly insane, and loved to kill.

Needless to say Weil hadn't let him near new Mutos ever again.

So Omega knew that these reploids before him now were extremely impressionable. He inwardly scorned Scimitar for allowing this sort of thing to happen. Mutos reploids needed time to form a personality of their own, or they would likely conform to whatever was happening to them immediately after "birth". Fortunately, it seemed these ones had at least gotten a couple of hours of life, but who knew for sure? He'd make sure to tell off the raider captain later, the last thing he wanted was a bunch of pseudaroids he'd trained becoming God-of-Destruction wannabees. That was his job alone, and he'd be damned if he let anyone else trying to fill the position live! Of course, that would undoubtedly piss off Scimitar, and there was no way he wanted to lose his best employer.

For now, Omega resigned himself to be as neutral as he could with the kitsuroids. He still had to train them, after all. No doubt they would later grow to be magnificent fighters because of being introduced to fighting so quickly.

"Alright you three, listen up!"

They jerked to attention, awaiting their orders.

"We're going to start today with basic striking attacks. These are the best for delivering the most power directly, but they often leave you open at the sides. Jabs and kicks are best for these types of attacks. I don't know quite how you were built, but I doubt your tails will have enough raw power to use this technique properly. However, I'd like you to try anyways. Now, do as I do, and do it with your tails when I tell you to."

They practiced the jabs and kicks, Omega showing them, the kitsuroids following his lead. Their tails turned out to be more proficient at physical attacks than expected, and in fact, turned out to be rather good at attacking. The group moved onto different types of attacks. They practiced hooks, feints, blocks, dodges and a multitude of basic kicks. Once they were done with those (which didn't take long because of the kitsuroids' great capacity to learn), Omega started to teach them about combos and sweeping attacks.

That's when they really shined.

With their thin, strong bodies and multiple tails, they were able to put together different blows into a whirlwind of attacks, never letting up. Omega sparred with Morukori as the other two dueled each other. This was their first test.

Omega barely missed being hit with a quick chop, jumping back as a kick was aimed at his gut. Three white tails swept underneath, forcing him to jump or else land on his back. The other foot came near Omega's head when he landed. Morukori jumped back while Omega regained his footing.

"Not bad," Omega grunted. Morukori merely grunted in return, then resumed his attack. Omega dodged whatever blows he could, blocking the others. As the relentless barrage of attacks continued on, Omega found himself surprised at just how quickly his pupils had learned to fight. And as a tail slammed against his arm, he was forced to admit that the tails were a lot more powerful than he'd originally thought. Their placement seemed rather awkward and ungainly, but the case was quite the opposite. In fact, the tails could not have been in a better spot. By simply rotating their whole bodies while attacking, the kitsuroids added both momentum to their blows as well as being able to attack from high and low within a short period of time.

Well, it looks like there's not much more to teach them about close range, Omega thought. Unfortunately, as elegant and effective the kitsuroids' fighting style was, at long range or against large, armored opponents, it was pretty useless.

Omega was able to spare a glance at the Kirukori and Harukori. Kirukori was doing some splendid dodges and blocks while his sister spun _upside-down_ on her hands, hitting her brother with all three tails and multiple kicks within a minuscule amount of time.

Wait a minute. He hadn't taught them that.

Omega was brought back to his own fight as Morukori delivered a jab. Omega slid to the side, aiming a hook at the side of the fox's face. He ducked and swept the back of his hand along the floor. Completely caught off guard, dust landed in the red reploid's eyes. Omega jumped back, only just managing to block a sweeping attack from Morukori's arm. But then, three solid blows connected to the side of Omega's head.

Omega hit the ground hard, bouncing slightly as his back connected.

"Alright, everyone stop!" Omega barked.

Harukori and Kirukori paused their fight, still in their last positions. Morukori looked worried.

"I'm sorry sensei, did I do something wrong?"

Omega got up off the ground, shaking his head, "No, on the contrary, you did something pretty good. But I there's still something I need to tell you about that." Omega rubbed the grit out of his eyes, then looked at his audience, who were lined up neatly.

"Alright then, did either of you see what Morukori did just now?" Omega asked.

The tan and brick-red foxes shook their heads. Omega continued, "I see. What Morukori did was throw dust into my eyes. Now, in battle, it's generally considered a dirty tactic-"

"Morukori!"

"Why'd you go and do that?"

"What did I tell you about interrupting!" Omega hissed, clouting the two kitsunes over their heads. They tended to their new wounds quietly as Omega resumed his speech.

"Like I was saying, it's generally considered a dirty trick. As such, you should avoid using it, at least while sparring. But in a real battle, it's better to be dirty than dead. Never hold back in a battle unless you need to keep your full power a secret from an enemy. Conversely, don't use more power than you need to. Now, Harukori, I saw you attacking in a strange manner. Using your hands instead of your feet to hit your brother."

"Was that bad too?" she asked meekly.

Omega gave her another hit over the head, "And what have I said about acting shy?"

"Don't?"

"Atta girl," Omega nodded grudgingly. "No, it was not bad. In fact, I'm impressed despite myself. That was an example of improvisation. In a fight, that basically means that a tactic you were using wasn't working, so you came up with another tactic out of nowhere to use. It's a really good thing to do, since a sudden change in what tactic you're using can catch an opponent off guard."

"Tell me about it," complained Kirukori, who was rubbing at a trio of scratches lined down his cheek.

"However, if an opponent can sense that you're about to change a tactic, they may be able to counter it, and changing your attack pattern will backfire if your opponent can take advantage of the time your guard is down while switching. All in all, it can be tricky, but well worth it if it works." Omega concluded.

The three kitsunes nodded in agreement, soaking up the information like a sponge. Omega cracked his knuckles, then changed the tone of his voice slightly.

"Okay, well, we're done with close range combat. You all did well.." Omega drew his gun. It made a slight clicking sound as he held it up in the air for his students to see, "Unfortunately, not all fights are at close range. Nor are they all against opponents the same size as you. This is called a gun. It specializes in long rang combat, and can hold it's own in mid range. At close range, it is hard to aim. There are many other weapons like this, and many other weapons that are different from or the opposite of this. Always try and find out what type of attacks or weapons your opponent uses, and in doing so, the best style of combat to deal with them. That brings us to our next style of combat, long range."

Omega aimed to gun at the wall opposite him, firing a semi-charge shot. It left a blackened starburst pattern on the wall. The kitsunes oohed, impressed by the range of the weapon.

"Can _we_ do that, sensei?" Harukori asked, her reddish tails wiggling excitedly.

"Why are you asking me? I'm not the one that built you," Omega sneered. He crossed his arms, glaring at his pupils, "Since I have no idea what sort of long range capabilities you have, I think it would be best if we focused on your elemental ones. Now, I surmise that you're not called the sand, ash and snow dancers for nothing. Sand dancer Kirukori, you use electricity, am I right?"

"Right!" came the cheerful response.

"Right. Now, show me that electricity."

"Uhh..." Kirukori mumbled. Omega rolled his eyes, that raider would _definitely_ get a telling off later. Obviously, he had not told any of the kitsuroids how to use their elements.

"Geeze, if you can't figure it out then I'm done training you. _Improvise_, damnit! Do a systems check, try a few more attacks, _figure out how your element works_!" Omega snapped.

Kirukori's ears slipped back, then righted themselves again. He focused, closing his eyes and tightening his muscles. He growled as he strained himself, doing his best to figure out his own body. Then-

_Zap_!

"Yeowch!"

Morukori looked coldly at his sister, who was sucking at her aching hand. Kirukori was looking proud of himself, waving around his tails energetically. Which was only to be expected, as electricity was crackling along each of them.

Harukori whined, "Ow! That hurt! Why did that hurt so much?"

"I barely felt anything, quit overreacting," Morukori frowned.

"I see. Your tails seem to be where your elemental abilities lie," Omega noted. "And Morukori, don't be so hard on your sister. It's only natural the static off of Kirukori's tail hurt her more than you; she is a fire type. You are an ice type."

"What difference does that make?" Morukori asked, genuinely curious.

To answer, Omega left the room. Puzzled, the foxes waited. He was back shortly, holding two large metal training dummies in each arm. He set them down in the room, spacing them far apart. The nearest one he turned to.

"Because ice type reploids are resistant to electricity."

"Why is that?" Harukori asked, again swishing her tails.

"I'm glad you asked. There is a general rule with elemental reploids; ice types are weak to fire, fire types are weak to electricity, and electric types are weak to ice. On the other hand, ice types are resistant to electricity, electric types are resistant to fire, and fire types are resistant to ice. This is because of how elemental reploids are built. Now, a demonstration."

Omega turned to the dummy. He set his weapon to electric, then slashed at it. Sparks appeared all over it. "See? Electricity is weak to-"

He swung his sword again, but this time the element was different.

"Ice!" The dummy froze instantly. He changed the element of his sword yet again.

"And ice is weak to Fire!"

_Slice_!

The dummy was now burning, chunks of ice falling to the ground. He turned to the kitsuroids, "The reason for this, as I said, is the way elemental reploids are constructed. Electric types are highly resistant to fire because of the fuel used to power them. Because of the high amount of electricity, the fuel in electric reploids has a higher combustion temperature, as well as being less conductive. This is to prevent the electricity from overheating the reploid's circuitry and starting a fire, as well as shock its own body with its power. Unfortunately, the special fuel used to do this also has a higher freezing temperature. Therefore, it's prone to forming ice crystals when there's a sudden drop in temperature, such as when hit by an ice attack. While the crystals usually melt within a few seconds, the damage caused can be akin to having razor blades put into your blood."

"Ice types, one the other hand, have a much more durable fuel. It's got a much lower freezing temperature, since ice types need to be cool enough, or their attacks won't work. It's also not very conductive, so electric attacks barely do anything. However, it's like the opposite of electric fuel. It's resistant to electricity, but extremely weak to fire. Fire attacks cause the fuel to overheat, damaging the ice reploid's delicate inner systems. Since the systems need to be kept cool, the heat burns out a lot of their function, ultimately incinerating the reploid from the inside out if the outside is not burned to a crisp before then."

"Finally, fire types. Their fuel is highly conductive in contrast to the other two. Also, their systems are well developed to work at extremely high temperatures, so they'll never overheat. Ice attacks will barely faze a fire type because of how hot they are. Even if an ice attack manages to partially freeze part of the fuel, it's so conductive that heat from the other areas will instantly thaw the ice. The downside of this is that electricity is also conducted easily. Many of the systems that are well suited to heat will short-circuit, and any areas that do need to be cooled will become heavily damaged."

"This is something you need to remember. As elemental pseudaroids, knowing which enemies you can safely fight and which ones you are naturally weak to is the difference between life and death. So is knowing what type of combat your enemy is best at. If it's absolutely unavoidable, knowing both of these things will give you the chance you need to take advantage of _their_ weaknesses and survive."

The three kitsunes stared. They seemed confused.

"What? Life and death? Is fighting really that important?" Kirukori asked.

Omega scowled, "Did you think this was some sort of game? Did you think my training you to battle was all for sport! It's not! Fighting and killing are one and the same, it's got nothing to do with sport! If you can't kill, then you'll be killed! Of course it's important! The way of this world is decided by who wins and who loses in a fight. Winners write history, and losers are forgotten!"

"But... do you have to kill those you fight? It seems cruel to just kill everyone outright," Harukori pondered.

"No, you do not have to kill those you fight. Many people who think themselves _good_ and _right_ do not kill," Omega scorned, his voice dripping with malice, "but those types of people are all fools. The only reason you shouldn't kill someone is if they're useful to you if kept alive. Other than that, you must kill. If you do not, than you are leaving an enemy alive who will only come back to fight you later. And if they come back later, no doubt they will be stronger, know your weaknesses, and defeat you. As far as I'm concerned, and as far as you should be concerned, a dead enemy is no longer an enemy. And if they're no longer an enemy, they're no longer a problem."

"Ruthless, but still a very logical observation," Morukori stated. The ice-type fox had a very cold nature, true to his element. The other two, however, seemed slightly reluctant to accept this latest batch of information. Still, they swallowed it down in the end.

"Anyways," Omega said loudly. The foxes all snapped to attention. Omega's voice had changed its tone, "We were going to work at long range, weren't we?"

"Yes sensei!" Harukori grinned, glad that her favorite (and only) teacher's serious streak was over.

"Time to train!"

"Alright then, do whatever you want," he directed.

All three foxes glanced over at Omega with baffled looks, "Wait, what?"

"Aren't you going to tell us what to do?"

Omega moved to the side of the room, leaning against the wall, "Sure." He shuffled slightly, getting more comfortable.

"Improvise."

Still confused, the kitsunes looked at each other, but did as they were told. Each of their tails began to shimmer with their respective elements. At first the kitsunes stuck to what they knew, practicing close range attacks with their tails. However, the icy Morukori did not practice with quite as much gusto as the others. A glare of concentration rode on his face as he practiced his moves slower than the others, putting more emphasis on swinging his tails than attacking with them.

Then, an accident occurred. Morukori's tails were beginning to ice over at the tips, so he swung them viciously to clear off the ice. Without warning, great shards shot swiftly from the tips and flew across the room, impaling one of the dummies. The other foxes stared.

"Seems that you've figured out long range," Omega smirked.

Morukori grinned, immediately starting a barrage of distanced ice attacks, aiming at the dummy. Harukori and Kirukori spared a quick glance at each other, then followed suit.

Delighted cries echoed around the room as the foxes discovered more and more ways of attacking with their wonderful tails. They were so preoccupied with their new abilities that they didn't notice Alfredo tapping at the window, nor did they notice Omega slowly slip from the room.

"It looks like they're doing well. How did the training go?" asked the scientist.

Omega replied, "Pretty well. I taught them a lot about close range attacks and a bit about improvising, after that they pretty much taught themselves. You can only teach a pseudaroid so much before they have to teach themselves. Don't be worried though, they're bright enough to get it. I do want to have a word with whoever's in charge of making them."

"Oh? That would be me. What did you want to talk about?" Alfredo asked, curious.

"Really? Well, I should have known. You reek of the type of guy who'd want to do this sort of thing."

"Hah hah, that's true. It's something I've been looking forward to doing for a while," Alfredo smiled.

Omega turned on him, making him regret his relaxed mood on the subject. "You dumbass! I don't care how much you looked forward to it, you've almost _blown it_ already! Have you no idea how the mind of a pseudaroid works? Did you do _any_ research about the psychological affects of the first few days!"

Alfredo shook his head vigorously, keeping his mouth tightly shut. He knew he'd screwed up, but didn't know why.

"Lunkheaded lunatic! How can you call yourself a creator of mutos reploids if you don't even know how they work! They're not like a weapon that you can make or tweak at your whim! They have brains, unlike you, and there are serious side-effects if they get introduced to things too soon! The next time you decide to make one, at least give it three days to adjust to life, not one! And if they're going to be an offensive pseudaroid, the fourth day is best for combat training, or the seventh day max," he finished, finally calming down.

Alfredo was stone still, not quite sure how to react after Omega's outburst. Omega sighed heavily, "Well, that's it for my rant. I didn't mean to scare you, just tell you what needs to be done with pseudaroids."

Alfredo's shock faded as he realized that that was probably the closest thing to an apology that Omega would be willing to give. He waved off Omega's words, "No no, I understand, I was too rash with the mutos reploids that I made. I got too excited and didn't think of the effects. My apologies if my silence worried you, I did not mean to do that."

"Yah, well, no harm done. Anyways, what're you doing down here?"

"Scimitar wanted me to check how you were doing. It's evening and we were wondering if you were still alive down there!" he joked, dispelling the apprehension from earlier.

"whoa, really, that late already?" Omega ran to a window, gazing out at the beautiful red sunset. Of course he didn't notice the sunset, just how late it was, "Shoot! I should probably go home fairly soon Don't worry about the pseudaroids, they'll be able to train themselves from now on. Just give 'em a few pointers about their anatomy and weapons systems and they'll be fine."

"Thank you," Alfredo nodded, "now, Iggy wanted me to tell you that she's finished repairing your ship and filling up the fuel tanks. The items that you requested are all waiting in a box inside your hangar. Whenever you feel like it, the ship that will take you back to Hunter's camp is waiting in the docking bay."

"Ah, thank you. I think I'll go ahead and reduce the time the pilot's will need to wait." Omega walked out of the training are, heading towards the general area of the hangars. Signs would lead him to the right way. Alfredo watched the kitsuroids fight for a little while longer, then left as well.

X X X X X

Scimitar glanced behind him as the door to the command center opened. He turned back to the main monitor, watching as a ship sailed away. He tapped the keys on his keyboard as the first mate delivered his report.

"It seems that he trained the new pseudaroids well. They're still training, but I've sent someone to tell them that they can stop and rest any time they want. The mercenary has probably left the ship already."

"Ah," the raider leader acknowledged the report, looking down at his personal video screen. "I can see that."

On the screen, the three fox reploids were practicing their new skills. Then Scimitar hit another button and a scroll option appeared. Using his finger on the touch screen, he rewound the recording until he was at where he wanted to be.

"I see that they've already collected the battle data for the mutos," Alfredo noted, watching a series of numbers and graphs at the side of the video. Then he did a double take when he realized that there was another set of combat data at the bottom side of the screen, "Hey, wait. Scimitar? What are those?" he asked, pointing.

Scimitar grinned secretively, answering, "Oh, those? You didn't really think that I'd pay as much money as I did to have pseudaroids trained when I could have one of my personnel do it for free?"

"But it's highly doubtful that they would have done it as well."

"True. And from now on, they'll be the ones most able to train new pseudaroids, thanks to this. But do you really want to know why I did it?" Scimitar asked, slowing down the rewinding of the video.

"Yes, that would be appreciated," Alfredo took up a better position to look at the monitor in front of Scimitar. The raider leader smiled, finally stopping the video. He pressed "play", letting the video resume showing its contents. He'd stopped it at the time just before Morukori and Omega had begun to spar, and now their flurried blows were once again flying at each other.

"To get more data on him."

Everything suddenly fell into place. Alfredo looked over at Scimitar, then stared back at the screen. The look in his captain's eye held all the answer the scientist needed. Scimitar's gaze was held to the figure of the mercenary dueling, that flawless blows and reflexes of the silvery-haired reploid.

Alfreo had seen this look before, in the eyes of other raiders newly acquainted with a weapon. A greed for the power that they'd tasted, a lust for complete control of that power, and more of it. It was clear to him what Scimitar wanted.

Raiders are notorious for many things, but there is one thing that stands above all others. Doing whatever it took to get what they wanted...

No matter the cost.

* * *

Quick note about the kitsuroids. I did not name them after anything (I came up with the names outta nowhere), but while checking the web to make sure that the names did not accidentally mean something offensive I spotted some interesting info.

Kirukori – kirikiri is some sort of scripting engine, and it seems that kirukori is a somewhat (not really) popular name on things like maple story. Too bad Kirukori is too energetic to bother reading.

Morukori – Morukori is the name of a mountain, called the "mountain spotted like a giraffe" because of the various types of rock littered on it's slopes. Sort of appropriate, since Morukori has a proud/generally unmoving and cold personality and mountains are usually unmoving and cold.

Harukori – Halcali is the most I found. It's a two-person female hip-hop group in Japan, I think. Funny, Harukori is the only female of the kitsuroids...

**Also note**; the original idea for the reason why electricity is weak to ice was taken from Rioni Riishu's story, Less Than Human: Harpuia's story. I only elaborated it, the same way I did with the explanation of pseudaroids and how they work.


	18. A restful day

Hey Guys! S.Z. Chimera here! It's taken me a while to get this next chapter up, but for good reason. Unfortunately, this reason (technically, reasons) will likely prevent me from updating as fast as I used to (not including how long it took me to get stuff up over last summer), so I just wanted to forewarn you about that. However, take heed, no matter how long it takes for an update, I will not let this fic die! Still, I will do my best to update at least once every two months, if the problem, which is my computer (Hard drive died!). And also, Personal Messages will be answered fairly quickly. I may not have time to write, but I'll still have time to answer any questions!

* * *

Jackson and the recruit stood up straight, facing the most powerful reploid soul in Cyberspace. Not just in physical strength, but political and intellectual. This reploid was ruthless, cunning, quick, imperial in his appearance and unbiased in his justice. He was the supreme judge of law in the data-filled afterlife, and had no mercy for the corrupted. He himself had faced his judgment, and learned from it with flying colours. No soul or cyber elf dared challenge him for his role, nor would they want to because of how well he did it.

He was the chief of police. And at this moment, he was was rather peeved.

"What is it this time, Jackson? I have some new souls to interrogate," he snapped.

Jackson was un-intimidated by this show of will. He stepped forward, leaving the recruit precious little space to hide from the callous stare of his superior. The cyber elf plopped a pair of sheets on the chief's table, pointing to the number on the bottom. "See this? These are the teleportation records. This number says 2014. This number says 1122."

"So? What has this got to do with anything?" the chief asked, leaning back.

Jackson grabbed the recruit, who let out a small cry of shock as he was dragged forward by the elf, "Both me and this new recruit can personally account for what I'm about to say next. These number are contradictory to the actual amount of teleportations recorded. Each of them is one too high."

The police chief started, no longer relaxing back in his chair, "What? That can't be right..." He read through the numbers, counting how many teleports were recorded in the archives on the sheets. He stopped after the second one, a grim look on his face.

"You're right. Both of these data banks seem to be missing a sequence. Do you have any theories on this?"

"I do, actually," Jackson nodded. He continued, "I believe this may be the work of that strange phenomenon, the thing we all refer to as the "Netherworld". It certainly has a similar pattern."

The police chief bolted upright, surprise on his face, "NO! No way. It can't..." The recruit watched, stunned, as the legendary, impenetrable composure of the renowned police chief began to fade.

"It's only a theory, of course. However, it seems the most likely cause. As the commander of the top-secret Netherworld investigation unit, I would like to request more resources be put into attempting to find the location of the missing data. It may be something else causing this oddity, but if it is the Netherworld, I would like to find out why it is acting up."

"Yes... I think it's time we started getting serious about finding that place again..." The chief sat down, his hands clasped just underneath his chin to help him concentrate. The recruit was mystified. He was also quite sure that his presence had been forgotten, although whether or not he should be thankful for it was beyond him. Jackson perked up as his boss continued, "After all, if it's starting to act up for no reason, then we need to discover a way to stop it before it sucks in anything, like more souls. But, if it's because it's done the _opposite_..."

Jackson stiffened. The recruit, unable to fully understand the situation, couldn't handle it any more, "What? What souls? This Netherworld, I've heard about it, but I thought it was just a fairy tale! That it was some stupid little tale about a weird spot in the border between Reality and Cyberspace. It's supposed to have done nothing ever since it popped into existence, except absorb a few fragments of data when it first appeared. Are you saying that actual souls were lost to it!"

Jackson and the police chief were surprised by the outburst. However, they soon calmed down, and the chief even gave a small smirk, "Well, I suppose it's only fair to tell you since you've heard all this. Well, yes, a soul was taken by it, but only one. It also took most of the data concerning the soul. Even the people in Jackson's unit here, despite being the experts on the subject, know very little about it. Most of them actually think the place took all data on the soul, but a bit survived. It's top secret however, so I won't be telling you that."

"So, it's supposed to have absorbed a soul and the data on it. But I don't understand, why would it suck new stuff in? And why, when it's sucking things in, would you say that it might have "done the opposite"?"

"I know as much as you do about why it's started sucking in data again," admitted the chief, "but when I say it's "done the opposite", I mean that it may have released the soul it had taken."

"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing? I mean, we can go rescue that soul now! Can't we?" inquired the recruit. The chief sighed, shaking his head.

"You know about souls? All of them have good and evil, some have more of one than the other. The good ones get freedom here in the afterlife, and so do the bad ones once they have changed their ways. But the reploid whose soul was taken... I knew him personally. He was programmed evil, he loved evil, hell, he _embodied_ it. There would be no atonement for him. He would come here and turn our heaven into a hell. _We_ would be the ones needing rescuing. If he's been turned loose by that netherworld, then we need to find out so we can stop it."

The recruit was stunned. An evil soul? The chief saw the look on the recruit's face as he squeezed out a response, "Evil? An _evil_ soul? How could that be possible, how could someone be like that?"

The chief laughed mirthlessly, "Well rookie, they didn't call him the God of Destruction for nothing."

X X X X X

Omega sniffed. His eyes fluttered open, only to see a warm darkness. He let his fingers creep towards it, feeling along its square edges. With a contented yawn he dug his fingers into it affectionately.

Damn, that was a nice pillow.

Morning rays fell into the hangar through breaks in the curtains, landing warmly on Omega's back. But with the muddy-red pillow in his face, they were unable to reach his eyes. Sprawled flat out on the dirty floor, the god of destruction soaked up as many rays as he could, thoroughly enjoying the relaxing sensation. He loathed the thought of having to move from his comfortable position. However, seeing as he had nothing that he needed to do that day, he really didn't need to.

And so, for another few hours, he went back to sleep.

Around noon he finally woke up again, scratching his cheek. Omega forced himself to sit up, yawning widely. The sound echoed throughout the hangar, bouncing off the walls and the polished surface of the ship. He shook his head as if to shake out his fatigue, and it seemed to work. He blinked at the window, then frowned at it. Maybe he should have asked Iggy to get some better blinds too, for his current ones were ragged and torn, letting light in despite being fully closed. But, it wasn't like he couldn't go do that himself.

Omega stood up, stretching as he did. After a few more exercises he gazed around, pondering what to do. His view ended up back at the pillow, which was slightly larger than Omega's torso. That ever-so-comfortable pillow... Omega ran his fingers along his hair, started to wonder how he'd ever managed to fall asleep without the thing.

Then he stopped himself, he'd gotten along fine without one before, why did he think so highly of them now? It must be because of how luxurious it felt to sleep on them, rather than the cold, hard and gritty ground in the hangar. _So_ luxurious...

Omega smirked, finally beginning to understand the humans' greed for highly-priced items. It must be similar luxury, to know that you could have something so much better than before. Of course, the humans always overdid it. He would just be glad with what he had. Or maybe a few more? Yes, a few more couldn't hurt. He wasn't being greedy, of course. How could wanting a few more pillows to sleep on be greedy? It was quite practical, in his opinion. And maybe a blanket or two, then some thicker curtains, and some more things that he couldn't think of at this time but was sure would be necessary later...

Omega walked over to the faucet in the back of his hangar, grabbing the bucket from the top of the pile of things Iggy had brought him. He still hadn't gotten around to sorting through the two crates, or the clothes piled into the second crate, which was stacked under the first. In fact, the first thing he'd done after he'd returned to the hangar was grab the pillow and flop down to sleep.

The first aid kit and comb rattled slightly as the bucket left its perch, but soon settled. Finally at his destination, Omega leaned down and turned on the tap. The water blasted into the bucket, a small amount of spray landing on Omega, making him shiver. That stuff sure was cold...

As soon as the bucket was filled, Omega threw it over his head. He grimaced as the freezing water splashed onto his hair and back. Oh well, it got the job done. He repeated the process several more times, putting his feet or legs under the tap when it wasn't used to fill the bucket up. It wasn't too much longer until he was clean, but it came at a cost. He was considerably colder than when he first woke up. It wasn't enough that Omega really cared, though. Turning off the tap, Omega shook himself roughly, dislodging large drops of water off of his lean frame. He walked over to the thin metal crates and looked inside them for some clothes. Then he came to a realization.

He was still wet. And there weren't any towels.

He grunted in frustration, double-checking the contents of the crates. But, unfortunately for him, Iggy had only gotten him what he'd asked for, not more. She certainly got a lot of clothes, Omega admitted, and they were some good ones too, but no towel was unearthed by his searching.

So, Omega sat in the sunniest part of his hangar and waited. He didn't really have anything to do, so he closed his eyes and did nothing. At least, for the first thirty minutes. In a sudden hit of inspiration, Omega decided that he should review his coding.

Now, being able to look over your own code isn't something most reploids are able to do. Omega wondered if there was another being alive today that could do it at all. But, being the special case that he was, Omega could delve into his personal programming and see what was there. He didn't even remember if he could do it in the first place, or learned it while he was stuck in that abnormal prison of space and time. However, now that he could, he began to wonder about doing it more often. After all, hadn't he discovered a little while ago that Weil had blocked certain aspects of his coding from working? He knew that he'd be unable to see programs, or even know that they were there, if Weil had decided to block them. After all, he'd gone over his programming several times before and seen nothing odd (not that he'd known what to look for!). But, still, it was worth it to see what his new EX Skills had done.

So, Omega meditated. He searched through his mind for anything new or out of place. He saw his EX Skills, but noticed very little change with all of his other systems. All his systems, except one.

POT...AL ...STEM D... CTI...ED. EN... ER REA...VATI... COMM...

Omega fell backwards out of surprise. He was _damn _sure that he'd never seen that data before. Which freaked him out to no end. The only conclusion he could come up with was that Weil had blocked something else as well. And whatever limiter Weil had put on that thing was breaking down, just like it had for his EX Skills. And by the looks of it, it wouldn't be much longer until the limiter was completely down.

It was a challenge Omega couldn't refuse.

For the next hour or so, Omega mentally battered at the code, trying to break down whatever mental barriers were there. He tried multiple system reconfigurations, trying to either un-corrupt the hidden file or remove the alien barrier from his systems. One thing was for sure, as much as Weil knew about programming, his original creator knew more. Whenever programs weren't supposed to be there, or weren't beneficial in some way or other, never lasted long. And as it was, the partially broken barrier was now exposed. It no longer looked like it was something that should be kept. Weil had cleverly disguised it as a normal part of the systems, but now that it was breaking, it would soon be eliminated.

POTE... AL SYSTEM D... CTIVATED. ENTER REAC... VATION COMMAND.

Omega smiled. One hour had passed, and he'd nearly gotten it.

Half an hour later, the mystery was cracked.

POTENTIAL SYSTEM DEACTIVATED. ENTER REACTIVATION COMMAND.

And then Omega was stumped.

He'd gotten this far, but had absolutely no clue what the reactivation command was supposed to be. He tried another reconfiguration, but to no avail. Then he began to wonder if it was either a password or simply a command. He tried the first option, as it was no doubt something Weil would do.

"Omega? Weil? God of Destruction? World domination? Ultimate reploid? Abra kedabra? Open sesame?" he guessed, completely unsure of what it might do. Nothing happened. So he went for the second option, hoping for the best.

"Reactivate potential system?"

It worked.

POTENTIAL SYSTEM REACTIVATED. RECONFIGURING SYSTEMS IN ACCORDANCE WITH POTENTIAL SYSTEM. POTENTIAL SYSTEM UPGRADES COMMENCING.

Omega grinned proudly, so excited that he jumped up and began strutting around. He'd done it! He'd beaten Weil at his own game! Omega had personally undone something that Weil had programmed into his systems, flushed that bastard's work out of him! Despite the fact that he had no idea what the potential system was actually for, or what these "upgrades" were, he was ecstatic. No doubt there was more Weil had done to him, but he couldn't help celebrating his small victory. Omega even did a somersault he was so enthused. Soon after though, he calmed down. Still grinning, and now fully dry, he threw on an outfit. A brick-red t-shirt and some long black shorts with several pockets. Dang, Iggy had made a good choice of clothes! He trotted out of the hangar, happy as could be in the bright afternoon, and ready to shop.

Little did he know how profound the potential system was...

X X X X X

Omega arrived amidst the bustling shoppers of the market without anyone the wiser. A small smirk was on his face as he looked around for somewhere to shop first. In a rare good mood, he simply decided to go wherever and hope for the best. After yesterday's training exercise, he had a good $1000 to spend however he wished, thanks to the liberal fee the raiders gave him. He sort of liked them, not because he fond of them as people (there wasn't a person in existence who had _that_ honor), but because they paid well. As far as he was concerned, they were on his "neutral side". He didn't have a good side, but they weren't people he'd just kill right now and ask questions later (AKA his "normal side). Heaven help the few that were on his bad one.

He gazed aimlessly at the different stalls as he passed, quite content to ignore the majority of them. A few caught his eye, but only for a moment or two. Every once in a while, a musician or small band was sat at a corner, playing cheerful music for those that passed. Their tip containers were often full to bursting as passer-bys applauded and threw loose change at the ever-growing piles of coins.

Omega didn't bother with them, and they didn't seem to even notice him. He simply carried on his merry way, stopping at an upholstery stall not far from one such musical group. Omega spotted some thick, black drapes for windows and promptly bought four of them, one for each window. He was off again without a by-your-leave or thank you to the clerk, who merely shrugged and looked away as he left.

More travelling brought him to another stall filled with household items. Seeing as the clerk was too busy with another customer to talk to him, he picked up a small booklet filled with numerous items and their respective prices. Curious, Omega glanced over its contents. His eyebrow rose at the price of a bed, which was at least double his current budget. Frowning in annoyance, he viewed the prices on the smaller items instead. There were quite a lot of pillow varieties at a much cheaper price than the bed. After the first customer was dealt with, Omega called the owner over and discussed the pillows with him. He ordered four large black ones, as well as several dark red and brown ones. Next on the list were some black blankets and some red towels. He wasn't aiming for a colour scheme, but the advantage of being able to hide whatever blood might end up getting onto them.

After he was done, he gave the address of his hangar for the delivery man. His order placed, he simply left.

Now that his main items were taken care of, Omega realized that he had plenty of time to spare. It was around 3:00 o' clock in the afternoon, and he still had a good few hundred dollars left to spend. Some birds flew in the distance. The God of Destruction felt oddly peaceful, knowing that the people passing by him had no idea who he was, nor did they care. They'd be reminded in time, of course, but it was the first time that Omega actually understood the benefit of being anonymous. No one caused a fuss when you passed, no one cared when you were coming or going. Truly this was freedom…

It was rather unfulfilling.

On the other hand, it was better than being someone's slave. Omega started walking in a random direction, pondering his life again as he went. He had freedom now, but no fame. Was it better than when he had fame, but no freedom? It was. Why was he even thinking about this, anyways? He would have both fame and freedom soon enough. He wasn't called a god for nothing.

His musings had brought him deep into a darker area of the market, overshadowed by a large gray building to the side. The people shopping in this area were tenser than in the lighter area. Their eyes flitted from one corner to the next, watching for anything worrisome. Omega himself couldn't care less. He could easily pick out those hiding in the shadows. He, through his superior sight, could view those dealing in goods that were undoubtedly illegal. Not that he cared; he went on his way as always.

Striding confidently, the hidden ones either avoided him or sneered at him. Either they took him for a fool or realized that he might have a reason for being that confident.

Someone to Omega's side cackled gleefully. He glanced over, wondering mildly who'd made the gesture. It was a grizzled old lady sitting beside a weathered stall of odd goods. Omega stopped, his face expressionless as she began to talk.

"Weel weel, what haad we here, ah? Perhaps a patrun off me fine goods?" she wheedled through a toothless mouth. Her face wrinkled as she grinned maliciously at him, "You seem a _fine_ strong bloke, perhaps ye'd like to see what ah've got to sell, hmm?"

"I'll only buy something if I find it interesting," Omega replied, his face betraying nothing.

"Ohoohoo, dearie, _everything_ ah've got is inneresting…" she smiled, staring intently

Omega trotted forwards, not interested in backing down from her challenge. He glanced over her wares briefly, taking everything in. Dark wooden carvings of assorted sizes poked ominously out from underneath disorganized piles of cryptically patterned cloths and suspicious effigies. Trinkets made of bone or strange metals chinked against each other rhythmically as a breeze stirred the contents of the stall. Evil looking symbols were everywhere. Strange smells wafted from bags of herbs and other bizarre plants as small scrolls rattled in their piles. The breeze died down along with the action of the items.

In the end, all Omega could see was an endless supply of charms and cursed items. It seemed this shop specialized in superstitious goods. Omega snorted derisively, not particularly interested in anything in the store. But, just then, he noticed something. It was mostly buried under another random fabric, but it glinted in a light purple just as he was about to turn around and head off. He walked past the hag, swatting aside the fabric.

And there it was. It was a carved mechaniloid power core, small but cracked, no doubt during its "harvest". Shining dully, it was the only thing in the entire shop that Omega would consider buying. And, probably, he would.

He picked up the small, smooth charm by the ring attached to it by a small black chain.

"How much for this?"

The hag gasped sharply, taking a step back. A moment passed. Then she grinned evilly, and began cackling, "Tcheeheeheehee! Of all the things in me shop, you picked the worst thing of all. Why?"

"'Cause I like it. Why else, is there a problem with that?"

She smiled, Weell… you have no idea what that symbol really means, do you? That… is the symbol of death and suffering, the final greek letter, Omega!"

"Yeah? And I already told you, I like it."

"Heeheehee, you're a strange one. That cursed stone, it were taken from the heart O' a mechaniloid that glitched and wen' nuts. It killed a few people, I heard, and ever since it's brought nothing but misery to those who've held it. It's no wonder, when it broke it took that shape. Well, roughly, ah polished it up a bit after ah got me hands on it…" she explained.

Her gaze fell sinisterly on the item in his hands, then on him. The dark look in her eye suggested that Omega should be very, very afraid of the item, that only one such as her had enough power to avoid its dark secrets.

Well, if she'd expected him to get scared because of that, she was greatly mistaken.

"Good, good! That clinches it! I'll buy it!" he exclaimed jovially.

The hag, having been quite certain that the history of the symbol would dissuade Omega, jumped with surprise. For a moment, her composure was completely gone. Then she recovered herself enough to ask a simple question.

"Why?"

"Well," Omega started, "this symbol and I actually have a bit of… history. I know a lot more about it than a lot of people do, and quite frankly, I like it for what it stands for," _What I've _made _it stand for_, thought Omega cruelly. "Anyways, now that I know that thing's history, I'm quite convinced that I want it. After all, I now know that it's the real deal for a charm, just not some hokey goodie two-shoes lucky amulet or whatever," he finished.

Speechless, the hag stared. For half a minute, she just stood and contemplated what her customer had said. Then she erupted into a high-pitched, gleeful cackle that echoed along the empty street. It was as if it was full of some curse, scaring even the shadows in the alley away.

"Kyeekeekeekeekee heeheeheeh! Boy, do you know how long it's been since I've laughed like this? Years! Years since anyone I met was either brave or foolish enough to ally themselves with a terror of the black arts. Worse yet, you've taken up the symbol of Omega! Even the black arts cower in front of this little beauty!"

"The black arts have little on me. I'm a mercenary that brings death and suffering. What other symbol would suffice for me?"

"Hee hee, true, true, I see darkness in you. Even lot more than I… how amusing!" Very well, I'll sell you that charm."

Omega smiled. He brought out the money for the charm, but as he was leaving the woman handed him a small, antiquated book.

"Yeh may find that interesting. It's the least ah can do fer you brightening mah day!" she smiled.

"Whatever."

Omega took it then turned around, leaving the stall. He admired his new purchase as he went. Truly, the thing had a feeling of bloodlust about it. Now, usually he wasn't one for believing in superstition, but today he was in a good mood, and had a good feeling about the charm. Omega disappeared into the distance, twirling the item occasionally before finally attaching it to the keychain containing his ship's keys.

The hag watched him leave. Her hand slowly slunk under the counter, bringing out a palm sized sphere of clear crystal. She pointed it towards Omega, stroking it lightly, gazing into the crystal long after he'd gone. Magic is a strange thing. Whether or not it exists, or whether or not you believe in it, has no impact upon it or the world. Few people in the days and age of Legion believed in it, and why would they? They could do anything they wanted with their technology, right? Fewer still claimed to be able to use it. They were either crackpots or entertainers, in the end. But as a little grin began to form on the hag's insane old face, it seemed as if enough magic did exist to reanimate her aged frame.

Those in the shadows shook their heads at the insane guffawing of the lady they'd come to know so well. One of them swore for the umpteenth time that they'd kill the old bat the next time she did that unnerving laugh. The rest just ignored her. After all, she was nothing but a crackpot.

"Teeheehee! Years ago, they exiled me from the ole' village fer believing in a prophecy written in the back O' that creaky book, Tales of the Sky, weren't it called? Exiled me fer me black magic and fer disturbin' the peace with all me twittering and tweeting about ancient fairy tales. And fer the longest time, I thought they were probably right, that it were no more than a tale and of no consequence to no one. But look at 'im go! Look at 'im go!"

Omega was long gone. But still she stared, stared down the dusty road. There were no tracks, thanks to the wind. The wind that blew harshly, the sandstorm that brewed and scared away the shadows in the alleys, as well as a pair of lost-looking shoppers.

"Ah well, so they'll learn. Ah forgave them long ago, after ah cursed 'em, hee hee! But, ah got to see you afore I died, now didn't I? Haah haah haah! I knew you'd return! Red demon!"

The woman finally let the sandstorm lead her further into the safety of the market, unconcerned with protecting the wares that no one ever touched. It raged, destroying the memory of what had occurred, wiping the slate clean with endless sand. Sands from the never-ending desert lurking just outside every town and city in the world.

X X X X X

Omega arrived home to a large, paper-wrapped pile just outside his door. He picked it up, unlocked the hangar door and entered. After locking the door again, he shredded the wrappings off of the package, revealing it to be the pillows and his other purchases from earlier. He threw the pillows and blankets into the corner of the hangar, now unsure of what to do with them. They landed in the alcove between the hangar and the back of his ship.

He took the other items, as well as the book, and tucked them into the crates. Then he moved the crates to the side of the hangar opposite the ship. Taking out the drapes, he moved to the windows, removing the rods. He tore off the old covers without another glance, placed the new ones on, and replaced the rods on the windows. Closing them, he was pleasantly surprised at just how much light they cut out. In fact, if he wanted to move around at night, he might just have to figure out where the light switch was… Wait a minute. Why didn't he know that already? Meh.

His work finished, he went and sat on the pile behind the ship. It was comfortable, but he decided to go get his other pillow from beside the ship's leg before letting himself relax fully. It didn't take long. Once finished, he let his body succumb to gravity, flopping on his back onto the pillows. Smirking, Omega twisted to get further into the mound, happy with himself over what he'd bought that day. Although it would normally be considered odd to have pillows but no bed, Omega couldn't care less. He was quite content as he was. With the hangar darkened considerably because of the new blinds, Omega felt a sudden pang of fatigue. He yawned, grabbed a blanket, and settled down to sleep.


	19. Stop the attack!

Holy crow, an update! It's got a fair bit of swearing more than usual, so watch out! Hah hah, wrote almost the whole thing listening to Linkin Park music. Whoa, some seriously awesomely angry music there!

Disclaimer: All characters, except the unnamed ones and Devilbat Ignis, belong to CAPCOM. I do not claim them, I am merely using them for non-profitable entertainment purposes.

* * *

The residential district was burning.

Screams from the dying ripped through the air. Flames writhed and crackled, claiming many lives and structures as their own, gleefully ending years of work and memories in an instant. The collapse of the buildings was audible. Above it all, the high-pitched cackling of a demented soul rang through the ears of all present.

"Burn, burn, burn! Kyeeheeheehee!"

X X X X X

Omega awoke with a start. Something was wrong.

He glanced around his pitch-black hangar suspiciously. Slowly he made his way to a window, lightly grabbing the curtain. Nothing was moving in the hangar but him. With a flick of his wrist, he suddenly opened the curtain and let light blast into his home. Nothing.

Omega gave the hangar a final scan before looking out the window. From what he could see, hunters were scrambling left and right. Some of them looked panicked, others haunted, and the rest determined. The sun had yet to rise. This angered the Red Demon. What the heck were they doing this early? They'd woken him up!

He grumpily closed the curtain again, heading for the door. He slammed it open, yelling, "Okay, what the hell is going on out here!"

Only a few of the hunters even bothered to look at him. One of them broke away from the group while the rest returned to their previous actions. "The residential district in area C-9 is under attack! C'mon, help us get ready! We've gotta go rescue them! It's the most concentrated group of people outside of Legion!"

He rushed off, helping another hunter with a large package of some sort. Omega gave the assembly a disdainful look. Why should he help? As if he cared!

He turned to go back into his hangar, but was roughly grabbed from behind.

"Hey buddy, they need someone to take this to the firefighting crews! Hop to it!"

Before he could protest, Omega was handed a large bucket filled with medical supplies. He was shoved towards a quickly moving column of people. The God of Destruction was forced along with them, trying to figure out what the heck was going on. His quick wake-up call didn't help matters. He was still groggy and unprepared to deal with what was going on. By the time he'd finally snapped out of his stupor, he was already on a mass-transporter pad with a dozen or so others.

"What-?"

"Okay everyone, in three... two... one...!"

"Wait!"

They didn't.

The next thing the group knew, they were in the thick of the fight. Everyone was shoved off the transporter to make room for the next lot coming through. Omega was pointed and pushed in the direction of the firefighting crew that needed the supplies. Deciding that he really had no other choice at this point, Omega went along with it. He subconsciously tried to avoid spilling the contents on his way there.

Thick smoke billowed across the night sky, glowing red from the embers that floated in the air. Ash clouded his vision slightly, collecting on his face and tongue as he tried to breathe. He could smell the burning flesh and building as he dropped the bucket next to a panicked-looking medic, who was treating someone with severe burns.

"Thanks," she said absent-mindedly.

Omega didn't bother to respond. Instead, he darted through the crowds, trying to look like he had somewhere to go. It stopped people from calling him over, which was a major relief as he looked for a way to escape. He didn't pay attention to the burning scenery or the screaming victims. What he was looking for was a way to get away from the crowd. Unfortunately, someone else had designs for him.

"Hey, look who it is! Get over here!"

He felt a rough, powerful grip tighten on his arm. A brown-haired girl had grabbed him, dragging him towards a small clearing. Her strange, star-shaped red bangs bounced as they went. In his rush to get away from people, he'd neglected to notice someone headed straight for him!

"I heard about you from Ashe and the others. C'mon, you'll be useful, this way!"

Within a few seconds, they were at the clearing. Omega stood, staring rather dumbly as the girl went and stood beside someone who looked _surprisingly_ like Harpuia. She muttered something into his ear.

Omega stuttered, "Huh? What? Useful...?"

The girl turned, giving him a scathing look, "Yeah, idiot! Can't you see what's going on here?"

Omega frowned, "I only woke up five minutes ago, and now I'm somewhere that looks like it got hit by... er, something. Mind telling me who you are, first?"

She growled, "Oh, I see. Pretty brainless, aren't you? My name's Atlas. You know, the Model F Mega Man? This here's Aeolus, the Model H Mega Man. Lemme guess, you have no idea what's going on or why this area is burning like this, hey?"

Omega nodded. He knew she'd just insulted him, but he couldn't be bothered to reply at this point.

"Well, I'll leave that to Aeolus to explain. I've gotta go guard the reactor." And with that, she was off, Megamerging as she ran.

"Reactor?" Omega asked. Aeolus sighed irritably, shaking his head.

"Idiot, It's not like I haven't enough to do around here without explaining things to some rookie fool..." He gazed disdainfully at Omega, but explained the situation, "Alright, well, nothing for it now, it seems. This area, as you've probably heard, is under attack. We're not sure why, but we think it has something to do with an experimental reactor that was moved to this area recently. It was going to be shown in a conference, but it seems that someone with ill intentions got wind of it. They've burned the area down, and we believe that a pseudoroid may be the cause. Atlas has gone to protect the reactor while I'm here organizing the firefighting and rescue efforts for those caught in the blaze."

Omega yawned, stretching his arms, "Why go to all the trouble for one stupid little reactor?"

Aeolus frowned, "It's not just any reactor! It is a condensed, high-output reactor! It was designed for emergency backup generators in office and residential areas, but it's small enough to be put into a large-sized pseudoroid! If we're not careful and let the reactor be taken, who knows what kind of problems we could have! Raiders would come at us with mobile power plants or high-powered cannons! No doubt that's who organized this attack!"

Omega realized what Aeolus was saying. If they let this technology get into the wrong hands, powerful weapons could be created. Something possibly along the lines of him, but a lot bigger. Oh, what was he thinking? Even if someone created a large pseudoroid capable of something like that, he was pretty sure the weapons technology would take a _long_ while to catch up to his calibre. But it still wasn't a pretty thought. As much as he hated to admit it, he'd have to help out, preferably by destroying the pseudoroid behind the attack.

And maybe the generator in the process.

"What can I do? I could go and try to flush out the pseudoroid-"

"You? Hah! This is a Mega Man's job! A pseudoroid capable of this is way beyond your talent!" scoffed Aeolus. Omega felt his cheeks flush in anger, but the wind mega man ignored it, "I've heard that you're stronger than usual, though. Tell you what, if you're really that eager for action, you can go rescue people from buildings. We have a lot of crews doing that already, but I'm sure another person couldn't hurt."

Aeolus turned his back to Omega, dismissing him. Omega was furious. Rescue!That sort of menial chore was beneath him! And besides, who ever heard of the God of Destruction going around rescuing people? He wouldn't have that!

Omega stomped off, determined to do as he pleased and nothing more. He ran past a crew coming in, a crying child clutched in one of their arms.

"Mamma! Mamma!"

Omega ignored it, dashing far beyond the sights of the firefighters. He disappeared beyond those holding hoses, ran past the charred corpses of those who hadn't gotten out in time. Finally alone, he glared at the sky, wondering where he should start his search. He trotted past a building that would collapse any second. He heard a scream coming from under a pile of rubble nearby.

"Help me! Help me! Oh God my leg! Where's my baby? Help!"

Omega looked over. A tear-stained face stared back at him, one hand clawing desperately towards him. Omega gave her one careless glance and looked away. The woman screamed at him further. Omega was about to keep going when he heard another set of footprints. He turned, just in time, to see another rescuer dash to the woman, trying to get her out.

"Over here, you ass! Help me get her out!" He yelled.

Omega sighed, "The building right there is going to collapse any second. She's a lost cause. Go help someone else."

The man stopped his work, aghast, "What? How can you say that! You don't know what you're talking about! Come here and help!"

Omega was pretty pissed at this point. Of course he knew what he was talking about! He'd caused a dilemma like this _more _than his fair share of times. And he knew from personal experience how close the building was to collapse. But, of course, he couldn't tell the idiot that. And, when he thought about it, if that idiot somehow survived getting a bunch of flaming rubble land on him, he'd probably tell someone about the guy who'd refused to help save a woman. He was unndoubtably under enough suspicion already. After all, hadn't Aeolus said something about knowing that he was stronger than usual?

With no other action left to take, he rolled his eyes and went to work. He and the other man each grabbed a corner of the chunk of concrete, trying to lift it. A small beam landed next to Omega's foot. He looked up, just as the building crumbled.

_Crap_! He thought. Without another thought, he threw the concrete slab into the air, intercepting another flaming chunk as he grabbed the two people beside him and jumped out from under the falling building. Without a second to spare. The pieces crashed into the ground, breaking apart into flaming shrapnel. One piece hit him in the shoulder, another slit across the woman's temple, knocking her unconscious.

"I told you it'd collapse, didn't I?" Omega snapped at the stunned hunter. He grabbed the woman, thanking Omega for saving his life as he ran with her to the medical crews.

Omega huffed angrily. Great. He'd just thrown a chunk of concrete twice his size into the air in front of, not one, but _two_ witnesses. Just great. And they were already gone, so he couldn't get rid of them. He looked at the shrapnel in his shoulder, somewhat surprised when he noticed that it had gone through. He grabbed it, pulling it out. It'd heal, but until then he was stuck running around with a hole in his shoulder. Perfect. Just. Freaking. _Perfect_.

Omega looked up at another flaming building beside him. It wasn't anywhere near collapsing, so he decided to climb on top of it. With any luck, he could scope out the area without running into any more survivors.

At the top of the building, he looked around. Flames obstructed his view in some areas, completely engulfing the tops of other structures. Another one to his right, however, looked like it was relatively safe. He jumped to it, looked around again, and jumped to another. This pattern continued for a good ten minutes. Nothing seemed to be turning up, not the pseudoroid, not the reactor. He was getting frustrated to no end. Someone was going to pay for the injury in his shoulder! Even if it had healed up already, he was still pissed. The sooner he could crush something, the better.

He stopped and took a rest on the next building he landed on. It was in much better condition than the others around it. Most of it was concrete and metal, so very little of it was burning. He had a clear view horizontally, but nothing seemed to be there. He looked down at the streets, spotting something in the distance. It was pretty far way, so he had to strain to see it. The thick drifts of ash and ember did not help him either. It looked like it was glowing slightly. Was it some kind of container?

Flames crackled, drowning out the sound from around the object. He could almost see some people stationed around it. Was it the generator? He leaned forward, straining his senses. Except for the flames, all he could hear was an ominous silence.

There was no warning when the claws raked his back.

Omega gasped in surprise, falling forward. He grabbed the edge of the roof as he began to fall, scrambling up just in time to see a shape disappear into the mass of smoke above his head.

"Show yourself, coward!" he roared, "come out and fight, you yellow bellied freak!"

As he yelled, he put a hand on his back to assess the damages. He winced when he felt his own vertebrae through one of the cuts, his back slick with blood. Well, there was another shirt ruined, not to mention his back was now a weak point. Fortunately, none of the other cuts went much deeper than a centimetre. As long as he kept the enemy off his back for a few minutes, he'd be fine.

"Kyeeheehee! Bleed, bleed, like the little insect you are! Kyeeheehee!"

Omega grimaced. Well, by the sounds of it, he'd found the pseudoroid. Or, rather, the psuedoroid had found him.

A movement caught the corner of his eye. He dived out of the way, just in time. Bat-like wings clipped the side of his head, burning him as he rolled. Omega got up just in time to see the pseudoroid's long, skeletal tail disappear into the smog again. He frowned, realizing his disadvantage at the tops of the buildings. Here, the thing could dive-bomb him at its leisure, and he'd have one hell of a time dodging it, much less countering it. Omega dashed across the rooftop, not even caring which buildings he landed on any more. He ran, looking for a more suitable spot to fight the madly laughing psuedoroid chasing him.

X X X X X

Atlas tapped her foot impatiently, glancing around the opaque smoke blocking her view. "Any news of the pseudaroid?" she asked a lone legion soldier to her side.

"No, unfortunately."

"Humph!" Atlas grouched, folding her arms, "you'd think that stupid thing had forgotten why it was here! If this thing's what it's really after, anyways," she said, patting the container behind her. "Seriously, this is starting to get boring. I wonder if it's even gonna show up?"

"Well, it makes our job easier if it doesn't, right?" the soldier smiled. Atlas scowled at him, showing that she would rather it did. The soldier shut up, glancing around the surroundings to avoid her glare. He perked up suddenly, staring at the top of a building.

"Oi, what's that?"

Atlas was alert instantly. She ran beside the soldier, and he pointed to the area of interest. Flashed of fire were coming from the sky, raining down on an unfortunate figure below. The figure was dodging quite well, however, and was rapidly jumping across the gaps between buildings. A few times a great, flaming bat seemed to appear out of the smoke, trying to catch the fleeing figure in its claws. It would disappear as soon as it had appeared, like a demon from hell.

"That's our pseudoroid, probably," Atlas noted.

"I wonder who it's attacking? They're pretty fast, if you ask me."

"Probably Aeolus. No one else I know moves that fast," Atlas answered.

The soldier frowned, "Wasn't he organizing the rescue efforts?"

"That's what I thought, too. Maybe it attacked him?"

They continued to watch as the mysterious silhouette avoided the fiery bat's attacks, wondering just who it was that was in such peril.

"Well, there's not much we can do unless they come this way," Atlas stated, relaxing against the container to view the show.

X X X X X

Another jet of flame scorched the roof near Omega. He leapt to the side, shooting a charged shot into the clouds from where the jet originated. His only reward was a malicious giggle.

"Kyeeheeheehee! Not bad for a little insect! Now be a good little bug and shrivel up and die! Burn burn burn burn! Kyeeheehee!"

Omega was forced to dodge again as a shower of flames came down upon him. He aimed a shot just ahead of where the fire had come from, this time with more success than the last.

"Kah!"

The burning bat finally came out of the clouds, rage glowing from her eyes and a scorch mark on her thigh from where his shot had hit.

"You little shit! Why aren't my flames turning you to ash! You should be charcoal by now! Kyeeheehee!"

Omega got his first good look at the pseudoroid. It had long ears that were perked at him, with a tail to match. The skeletal features of its body complemented the bare-bones wings, which radiated with flames. The tip of the tail also had fire on it, which highlighted the large, sinister claws covered in his dried blood. Red and gray colours covered its plated armour body.

Its throat expanded. Omega rolled right as it spat out a jet of flame at him.

"Kyeeheehee! This little insect is trying ever-so-desperately to stay alive! Very well! I, Devilbat Ignis, am delighted to quash your efforts! Bathe in my flames!"

She flapped her wings, gaining altitude, then dived at Omega. He tried to avoid the attack, only to end up with her tail encircling his neck. One of her claws grabbed his head, the other pinned his arms to the side.

"Kyeeheehee! Come here, sweetie, and meet your demise!"

She launched herself off the roof, using Omega as a spring. The Red Demon struggled with all his might to get free. Her claws dug into his arms, drawing blood. The claw on his head tightened.

"Stop struggling, insect!" hissed Ignis. She flapped as hard as she could, making her way over to a collapsed apartment complex. Broken beams jutted out from the flaming wreckage, mounds of broken concrete rearing up like miniature mountains. Omega finally freed his arms, reaching up to grab the pseudoroid's skinny ankles.

"Oh no you don't, little insect! Die!" she dropped him. He flailed in the air, falling towards the dangerous pile below him.

"Kyeeheeheehee!"

Had he been any ordinary person, Omega would have surely died. He was heading straight for a snapped beam, no doubt to be impaled upon it. He briefly wondered whether or not some of the Mega Men would have died, too.

However, he was in no way ordinary. As soon as he recovered from being thrown, he double-jumped to safety.

Ignis was clearly shocked. Her shock turned to rage, "Kyaaaaaaa! Die already you little bastard! Just die!"

Omega had no intention to comply with her demands. He took off at a sprint, nearly outrunning the bat as she struggled to follow. Devilbat Ignis spat more flame at him, flapping her wings furiously to keep up. Omega finally had the upper hand, since she could no longer try and grab him. He jumped, turning in a 360 and shot at her. She dodged. He kept doing this sporadically, keeping her from catching up but not losing any ground each time.

Unfortunately, as Omega turned a corner, he very suddenly ran out of room to run. He skidded to a halt to avoid running into the flaming mess. Ignis took advantage of this, grabbing his shoulders and one of his arms in the process. She continued to fly, unaware of her destination, raining down punishment on him with her free claw.

Omega, his gun in his free hand, tried to aim it at Ignis. She spotted this.

Since her claw was occupied tearing at Omega's torso, she bit down on his arm as cruelly as she could.

"Graaagh!" He yowled, doing his best not to lose his only weapon. He tried to kick at her, but as soon as he hit her she grabbed his foot, rendering the other one useless as well because of the odd angle it stuck out at. They stayed like this for a minute.

Ignis suddenly wrenched her head to the side, nearly snapping Omega's arm in the process. He screamed out in pain and anger as the weapon dropped.

Oh, she wanted to bite him, did she? Well, two could play at that game!

X X X X X

Atlas jumped as something clattered down beside her. She pointed her knuckle buster at it until she realized that it was harmless. The soldier had done the same, but was now lowering his weapon.

"What is it?" Atlas asked.

The soldier tentatively went forward, picking up the object, "...It looks like a gun of some sort?"

Atlas raised her eyebrow, returning the confused look the soldier was giving her. Then they both heard a painful screech from above, their gazes instantly snapping to the source.

Some sort of flaming bundle was headed straight for the reactor!

They dove out of the way just in time, the reactor and the container it was in exploding from the impact. The explosion was fairly controlled, however, and as soon as the spots had disappeared from their visions, they looked at the aftermath.

It turned out that they projectile headed towards the reactor was two combatants, locked together in a death struggle. Limbs and wings flailed in an energetic attempt to rend their target asunder. It was the bat-like pseudoroid, who, in a strange role-reversal, had a humanoid figure biting its neck viciously. Fortunately its armour plating prevented this from being fatal. However, the pseudoroid was unable to shake its attacker, so it instead resorted to trying to rip it apart. They couldn't tell any more after that, since the pair had started rolling across the ground, flames following them wherever they went.

Atlas and the soldier stared at each other.

"What... the... fuck..."

Suddenly the humanoid was thrown across their vision, slamming into the reactor's burning remains. Before they could rush to his rescue, Omega leaped out of the inferno, snarling at the pseudoroid before running down another side street. The pseudoroid followed close behind, launching itself into the air.

Atlas watched them leave, then stared dully at the remnants of the prototype reactor. The soldier glanced up at her, his voice optimistic.

"Well, at least the raiders can't get it now."

She smacked him over the head in response.

X X X X X

Omega ran just ahead of Devilbat Ignis, barely out of reach of her claws as he dodged her jets of fire.

_Well_, he thought, _this is a rather fine mess I've gotten myself into, isn't it_?

As experienced as he was with taking out pseudoroids, he'd never done it without some sort of weapon in hand. Sure, he could do it. More than once he'd wrestled with one of Weil's lackeys to train, usually beating his opponent. But killing them without a weapon was another matter. After all, they had pretty tough hides and armour like crazy. Sure, he had that too, usually. Unfortunately, after having the Ouroboros land on him, armour was in short supply. And since he was currently without a weapon, things had gotten a lot more difficult.

"Get back here you slippery bastard!" Ignis screeched.

_Hey, at least she's my size_, Omega thought again. He'd have no idea how to deal with this situation if he was fighting something as big as Tretista Kelvarian. The thought sent a shiver down his spine. No, if he'd had to face that three-headed monstrosity with no weapons or armour, he'd have straight out fled. At least, his present self would have. His past self might have fought just for the hell of it.

_And probably died, too, or gotten pretty close to it_, he concluded as he dodged yet more flame.

He hated to admit it, but there were some situations even the God of Destruction was vulnerable to. Sure, he might have won such a fight, but not without plenty of injuries. As it was he was already scorched and bruised, bleeding from multiple gashes and bite marks. He spat out some blood, whose it was was beyond him.

Omega made a sudden turn, running at full speed towards a wall. He kept going, jumping just in time to avoid crashing into the wall, instead running up it. Ignis was taken by surprise, having to flap hard in order to catch up to his maneuver. Omega grabbed a flag pole jutting out from the building, suppressing a grunt of pain as the hot metal burned into his palm. He charged up his Heat Launch EX skill as Ignis flapped his way. The moment he was ready to jump, he snapped the pole, brandishing it as a primitive club.

"My turn, bat!" he yelled. He jumped at her, grabbing her neck. His momentum swung him around to her back. She struggled; Omega began to lose his grip.

He cursed inwardly. Rather than lose his grip, he activated Static, hoping with all his might that it would work.

It worked far better than he'd anticipated.

Ignis screeched, electric currents running through her body. She stopped flapping, her body rigid with pain from the shock of Static. Omega grinned at his good luck, then stabbed the pole through her shoulder.

She screamed, jolting to the side. Omega lost his grip, falling to the ground. He landed in a pile of burning wreckage.

Ignis hit the ground hard, her damaged wing taking the full impact and snapping as it hit. She screamed in pain and rage as she rose, glaring at the burning pile with hatred.

"You! YOU! You had better be dead, because I'm going to kill you! I'm going to rip you limb from limb and burn you alive! _Damn you, insect_!"

She cursed horribly, staggering over to the pile. She stopped when there was no response. She waited. Nothing.

She waited longer, her ears perked for a tell-tale rustling, crunch, anything. Still nothing.

She began to giggle, louder and louder when the realization hit her.

"Kyeeheehee... Kyeeheeheeheehee! You are dead! Dead! You hear me! I won! I beat you, you little insect! Your corpse burns in my flames, your ashes drift in my inferno! You hear me? I won! I won! Kyeeeheeheeheeheeheehee!"

She laughed, her crazed voice filling the area with dread.

A single hand closed around her neck. She looked down at it, then to the eyes that glowed hotter than the fire around them. A single, blue triangle on Omega's forehead glowed just as brightly, flickering alongside the flames.

Ignis whimpered pitifully, "Mercy...!"

There was none.

X X X

A medic looked up from her latest patient, her wounds sealed. She was clutching a small child, her body wracked with trauma and relief.

"My baby! Thank God, my baby!"

The child was too worn out, only able to manage a small sob every now and then. The medic smiled, looking around for another patient to attend to. The fires were mostly gone now, the burnt out skeletons of the building black and crumbling. Ash still fell like snow among the ruins, giving the scene an eerie serenity. As she watched, a limping figure appeared from behind a charred wall, dragging a limp civilian alongside it.

"Hey, this one needs help over here!" The medic yelled, running to the two.

The one who was holding the unconscious man had long white hair, greyed considerably by the ash that stuck to it. He looked haggard and worn, and was covered with cuts and blood. His clothes were non-existent; all he wore was a piece of off-white armour that looked to the medic like underwear. She made no comment on it, instead grabbing a nearby blanket and handing it to the man as another helper took the civilian away to safety.

"Are you alright, sir? You've sustained great injuries!"

"I'm fine, really. A building fell on me when I was trying to get that man out," Omega lied.

What really happened was that the man had come out of a burning building screaming when Omega was heading back to the crews. Omega had promptly knocked the man unconscious, glad of an excuse for why he looked the way he did.

"You need medical attention-!"

"No, no, I'm fine, save it for the people who need it," Omega waved her away, "I just need to rest."

He walked away, towards the transporter. With the blanket draped around his shoulders, everyone thought he was another victim and let him pass. He reached the teleporters without any trouble, noticing the Model F Mega Man getting a verbal beating not far away.

"You bungling fool! How could you let the generator be destroyed! It wasn't enough for you that the creator died in the fire, you had to let the generator burn too?"

"I told you, I don't know how the hell it happened, one minute it was fine, the next something hit it from above!"

"Enough of your excuses you stupid-!" Aeolus shrieked

Omega smiled discreetly. Well, that was good. Now he wouldn't have to worry about any overly-powerful foes anytime soon. He noticed his gun, unguarded, not far from where the Mega Men stood. He stole over to it and took it. He returned to his previous course, his actions unnoticed by everyone in the crowds. Not like he needed the gun for his new EX skill, but he'd rather have it all the same.

Flamethrower. Just like Ignis, he could now spit out a flamethrower at anyone stupid enough to get close. He was rather happy with himself, actually.

As he stepped onto the mass-transporter with a crowd of strangers, people mistook the smile on his face for an act of peaceful relief.

It was anything but.

X X X X X

"You'd better go find the pseudoroid responsible for this and bring their cold, dead body back here_, do you understand_!"

That was the last thing Aeolus said before he'd chased Atlas out of the camp of firefighters and medical crews, waving his sword. It was starting to crackle with electricity, so Atlas had gotten the hint rather quickly and scooted. She was now involved in stalking through the ruins of the residential district, grumbling about her situation to herself. Suddenly she stopped, staring at the wall beside her. It was covered in something that was somewhat burnt, blackened, but undeniably blood. She looked across at the wall on the other side of the narrow street. It, too, was covered.

A sickening feeling came over her. Whatever had caused this, it wasn't the fire.

She rounded the corner, filled with dread. Some instinct told her that whatever was around there, it wasn't good.

If she hadn't been a war hardened soldier, she would have thrown up on the spot.

It was the pseudoroid, all right. The wings were unmistakable. They, however, were the only recognizable piece left of the dead bat. The rest was mutilated beyond recognition, charred by some sort of flamethrower-like weapon.

The eyes stared out into space, terror forever imprisoned in their lifeless gaze.

* * *

Omega- *smiling crazily*, "Whee! I got to kill something, finally! 'Bout time you did another chapter, Chimera!"

SubZeroChimera- "Yah, yah, shut it already."


	20. A day at the races

Disclaimer; none of the characters within this chapter belong to me except for Iggy and Crossbone.

* * *

In a world consisting of various shades of green, the level of activity was at an all-time high. Glowing shapes flitted to and fro; lime-coloured papers were passed between the shapes as often as text messages in a mall. Voices could be heard asking about equipment, the mission status, what was going on and many other questions. All the hustle bustle came to an immediate halt when one voice, proud, cold and commanding, rose above the crowd.

"Attention!"

Eyes widened, postures straightened. All were focused on the one person who floated above the crowd below, his unmistakable wings opened wide.

"Everyone! I thank you all for volunteering with the Netherworld Investigation Unit. The days ahead will be no easy task for any of you; I will be the first to admit this. We know very little about this so-called Netherworld, and we have no idea just how dangerous it is. We know for certain that lives could be lost, both real and data. They could even be erased. Please, I implore you, if your conviction is not as great as mine, then stand back."

There were hundreds of faces, staring up at him. Not one looked like it wished to back down. The chief of the Cyberspace Police smiled, "Men, women, cyber elves of cyber space... Thank you. Your faith in me is great, and I will make sure it is not misplaced! For the sake of everyone, we will get to the bottom of this phenomenon! For freedom! For peace! For Cyberspace!"

Everyone cheered, chanting strongly.

"For Cyberspace!"

X X X X X

Omega stared at the poster.

Upon his return from the fire-fighting incident, he'd immediately gone into a deep sleep to rest and recover. He'd gone out like a log, and it wasn't until two days later that he'd awoken. With the curtains blocking out the light from outside, there wasn't anything to wake him up. Normally he wouldn't mind this. However, unlike when he was in that wacked-out former prison of his, people actually cared when you stayed asleep for more than twenty-four hours at a time. It wasn't until Iggy had banged on the door that he'd finally gotten up. Heck, if she hadn't, he probably would've been out for a week.

The moment he'd opened the door for her, the darn mutos had shown him a poster that someone had (rather rudely) stuck on the front of his hangar.

"A race..."

Omega crossed his arms, glaring at the offensive piece of paper. Not only had someone posted it on _his_ hangar without _his_ permission, some other snot had decided to put some graffiti all over it. If he found out who, there would be a reckoning later...

"Yup," nodded the green iguana, "a race. And look! It's starting near the Shrine Falls! It's one of the most scenic areas on Earth!"

Iggy pointed to a specific spot on the poster, grinning widely. Her blunt claw dwarfed the writing informing any interested passer-by to the location and grandness of the race.

Unfortunately for the poster, Omega wasn't at all interested. "So? Like I care. Scenery is scenery, it all rots out in the end."

This prompted a frown from the pseudoroid, "Oh come on, lighten up! Seriously, even if it wasn't scenic, you can't go wrong with that prize!" She grinned, pointing to the four-digit figure on the bottom of the poster.

$2500.

Wait. $2500?

Omega suddenly snatched the poster, absorbing the information all over it. A marathon in the scenic falls, glorious views as you race over the countryside and raise money for charity entrance fee blah blah blah, first place prize of $2500. Hmm. That wasn't a bad bit of pocket change...

"So, Shrine Falls, right? Where's that again?"

Iggy rolled her eyes, but smiled as she explained, "It's a little hard to explain, but I'll give it a shot. Shrine Falls is a little clearing in the Tishin Forest, to the north side of the easternmost mountain of the Jojii mountain range..."

Omega's blank look stopped her mid-sentence. She sighed, shaking her head. "You're not getting it, are you...?"

He growled, "Like I'm supposed to know where all those places are..."

She sagged for a moment, then stood erect. Omega swore he could almost see a light bulb form over her head.

"Tell you what... It takes fifty bucks to enter the race, right?"

Omega nodded, not letting on that he'd skipped that particular part of the poster.

"Thing is, since Shrine Falls is a popular but remote tourist attraction, they don't have a teleporter, but they _do_ have a landing pad. So, if I pay your entrance fee and show you the way to the falls, will you take me there? I want to enter this race too! "

Omega agreed. As he opened the door to his hangar, Iggy started muttering to herself about the prospects of the race.

"Oh, wouldn't it be great if I won? I could get a new toolbox, or perhaps that Shringskner wrenchpipe kit, or better yet, I could get a better lab set so I could do some research..."

Omega ignored her for the most part, opening the cockpit to the ship and pushing it out the door. Despite his show of superhuman strength, Iggy paid no heed as she was lost in her own world. It was only as the God of Destruction closed and locked the hangar door that she broke out of her imagination.

"Uh... whatever your name was, um... We might have a little problem here."

Omega looked over, breaking into a hearty chuckle. The iguana pseudoroid was half-in half-out of the rear passenger seat of the jet, a comical look of hesitation painted on her face. It seemed that, as generous as the cockpit was to its passenger's leg and head space, whomever had built the roomy seats didn't account for the possibility of its passenger having a tail. Iggy looked embarrassed and frustrated at Omega's mirth. It didn't help that she kept fidgeting around to try and figure out how to fit into the plane.

"Oh shut up, will you?"

"Ahahaha, why should I? Haha!"

"'Cause I don't like being made fun of!"

"I'm not making fun of you, you're doing a good enough job of it yourself! Ahahahahahaha!"

Iggy crossed her arms, glaring as the red reploid guffawed at her predicament. Eventually he settled down as he realized that, if Iggy couldn't get into the plane, he couldn't get to the race.

"Okay, okay, I've had my fun. Now, let's get you in somehow, hmm?"

A few straggling passer-bys gawked at the sight of a feared mercenary struggling to get an oversized pseudoroid into a jet that seemed ironically majestic for the situation. In the end the pair managed to fit Iggy's tail into the ship by sticking it up between her legs. Still, it was so long that it curled over her head and into her face.

She frowned, but it was the best they could do. "So, this is how the flight's gonna be, I guess. Oh well... better let the guys at the control tower that we're taking off."

"Oh, right," Omega replied. He closed the hatch of the cockpit as Iggy shook her head behind him. He turned the console on, radioing the tower and getting the go-ahead. Taxiing halfway down the nearest available runway, he activated the jump jets and launched the ship into the sky. Iggy grunted in discomfort, but made no other complaint as they sailed off into a beautiful blue sky studded with cotton-like clouds.

Within a few hours the pair reached a large mountain range. It stood tall into the clear air, forests encircling its majestic gray slopes. Approaching one mountain in particular, they could see that the forests climbed up one side halfway, but the other half was far too steep. Instead, a great river of water seemed to materialize at the top, spurting down from a hidden spring in a great gush to a large pool below. The pool turned into another river, which meandered around the landscape like an elegantly curved snake. A large crowd was gathered on the shores of the large pool, colourful banners fluttering visibly.

Iggy pointed at a large clearing to the west of the crowd, where a number of ships were gathered. "There! That's where you should land!"

Omega nodded, checking the communication lines. He found someone to help guide him into the landing pad, then went and parked in an available space. The moment he opened the hatch Iggy began to squirm, her voice excited.

"Wahoo! A race! I finally get to enter into a big race! Yeah!"

Omega flinched as her powerful tail landed smack in the middle of his head, draping itself down to his nose, "Oi, quit it will you? I don't want a concussion before this thing even starts!"

"Sorry!" she removed her tail, letting Omega get out of the ship. He helped her in return, and soon they were looking around past groups of racers and fans for the registration booth. A kind man in the crowd pointed the way out to them. Iggy thanked him. They ended up at a table, where she handed in their registration fees. The clerks handed them each a number to pin to their shirts, and shooed them off as more last-minute entrants came in.

"Hurry now you lot, the race is about to start!"

They ran to the starting line, where a group of people were eagerly lined up in front of a thin, paper streamer. The large bunch of people jostled each other eagerly. Omega was bumped aside by a particularly serious looking pseudoroid who stared down at him with disgust.

"Move it, numbskull!"

Omega snarled briefly at the black-and-white striped mutos before making his own way through the crowds. He passed a couple more pseudoroids on the way to the middle of the line; the front was in clear view of some cameras, which he wasn't too keen on being spotted by.

Iggy was lost, long gone somewhere else in the proceedings. As he looked around curiously, Omega noticed a familiar green figure at the back of the pack. He had a decorative sword at his side, and seemed to be glancing frequently at Omega out of the corner of his eye. Their eyes met; the wind mega man sneered.

"Well, well, well, look who it is!"

"Hmph, I didn't expect to see you here."

The two glared at each other. Aeolus smirked, "So, it looks like the big bad mercenary has decided to join this race, hasn't he?"

"I could say the same for you. You don't strike me as the type to enjoy these sorts of things," Omega replied. The two kept staring at each other challengingly. For some reason or other, the wind mega man seemed to have a problem with the red reploid. He had no idea why, but anyone acting aggressively towards him would get the same in return. "So anyways, how did that generator thing go? Did you manage to keep it safe?"

Aeolus winced slightly at the attack, but returned with one of his own, "It went the way it went. I heard that you got so charred up from that incident that no one saw head nor tail of you for two days. You weren't hurt, were you?"

Omega growled. The announcer started hollering something, but neither of the two sets of eyes strayed from each other. Aeolus, in his megamerged form, smiled at Omega, "Well, fool, it looks like the race is about to start. May the best man win."

"Aye, and the weakest one lose!"

A gunshot sounded. The race had begun!

Aeolus suddenly shot over the crowd, his wings flaring. Several different pseudoroids dashed to the front of the assembly, some faster humanoids among them. Omega followed swiftly behind them, barging past struggling racers without another glance. Some of them wore costumes, perhaps for the entertainment of the cheering crowds behind them. Omega paced himself, running several meters behind the leaders. The cameras were still focused on the group; he didn't want to start dashing until he was clear of them. Even so, his powerful legs pounded the earth and stone beneath him. Another advantage of being armourless, his mechanical muscles overcompensated for his weight and sent him speeding along.

Thinking back on it, he hadn't done much dashing without his armour on. Considering how much faster he was running without it, he was sure his dashing speed would be off the charts. It was pretty darn fast even with his armour on. Omega chanced a quick look around as they entered onto a wide path leading into the forest. The stragglers were quickly being left behind and those in front were starting to get fairly far ahead of him. He increased his speed, reaching the limits of his running capabilities. Dirt shot up every time he lifted a foot, but even so, he had a good thirty feet between him and the pseudoroid at the back of the leading pack.

They entered the forest. He looked ahead. Iggy was doing surprisingly well for her bulk, having dropped to all fours, swinging her tail at anyone trying to sneak up behind her. A hunter was jogging between a beaver and a bear, trying to avoid the occasional swipe from either pseudoroid. Aeolus was at the front, combining his speedy air dash with a few gigantic steps every time he fell to the ground, keeping his momentum up. A monkey robot swung through the trees.

And at the back of the group the black and white , horse-like mutos from earlier was glancing around at the others in front of him. He slowly fell back, suspiciously eyeing those in front of him. Omega's instincts flared immediately, his sixth sense alerting him to some sort of danger. He kept his head down, but watched as the zebra mutos quietly started leaning to the side, then dashed off into the trees. Omega decided to follow.

He sneakily trailed the pseudoroid as it made its way through thick and thin growths of trees, jumping up onto boulders as they slowly starting becoming more abundant. Mosses were torn off their perches as the black, metallic hooves of the zebra crushed them underfoot.

The mountain loomed into view. Judging by the surroundings, they had backtracked through the forest, and were now headed towards the top of the falls.

As they reached the top, the zebra spun around. Omega hid behind another boulder, holding his breath.

"Who's there? Come out!"

Omega didn't move an inch, hoping that the mutos would turn back around and keep going.

"There's no use hiding! I can smell you up here! The winds up here blow your scent right to my nostrils! Show yourself, dog of Legion!"

Oh, that did it, _no one_ called him a dog! Omega jumped out from behind the rock, snarling and pointing his gun at the pseudoroid.

"Don't you _dare _call me a dog of Legion, or anyone else! I follow my own rules only!"

The zebra lowered into a fighting crouch, glaring at Omega, "If you are not a dog, then why do you follow me so obediently? Trying to sniff me out and expose me to the others?"

"Tch," Omega frowned, "if I follow you, it is only because I smell trouble, not because I am loyal to anyone."

The pseudoroid relaxed his stance. Omega dropped his weapon, but kept it in his grasp. The mutos nodded, "Hmm, if that is the case, then I mean you no harm. My fight is not against you, but the tyranny of Legion."

"From what I've head, people like Legion," Omega grunted, relaxing as well, "not that know or care enough about it to form my own opinion, mind you. Used to live as a hermit, see? Still, hearing about someone who doesn't like it... you're a raider, right? What've you got against 'em?" he inquired, hoping to get on the robot's good side.

It seemed to work. The zebroid turned, continuing his way up the mountain. "It's their policy concerning valuable artifacts. Tch, they're a bunch of hypocrites! One day they'll say that something belongs in a museum, the next they'll let anyone who's buddy-buddy with them store it in privacy! They say that the raiders are stealing valuable antiques, but then, after they seize them, they sell them to the highest bidder! Hypocrites!"

Omega followed, frowning in confusion, "That seems awfully silly to do. Why would they do that?"

"Well, they say that they need all artifacts turned into Legion. Ones that they deem are valuable, but not really historical enough, they'll sell. They say they do this to keep track of all the historical goods, and so they can put the important pieces into museums where their ancestry can be explained. Most of the time, though, the objects are sold off. Tch! They just want all the profit from antiques to themselves! They're just afraid that someone will find something powerful and decide to keep it! They're a bunch of power-hungry old coots, make no mistake! Keep the peace my ass, they just want to keep all the power for themselves!"

The pair finally arrived at their apparent destination. It was the top of the falls. Water jetted out from between a dam of assorted-shaped rocks. The source of the spring was hidden behind a bunch of stones, and on top of those stones was a strange mechanical device with a red timer on the front.

Omega stopped dead. The way that particular device had been assembled...

It was a bomb!

"Ah, so you've figured out what that is, eh?" said the pseudoroid, noticing Omega's shocked face, "Don't worry, I've got a transport headed here to pick me up before it goes off. Surrender, and no harm will come to you. Heck, if the boss is in a good mood, he could even offer to let you join us. You seem an interesting sort, I might hire you as an assistant if you prove yourself worthy," the pseudoroid offered his hand, "my name is Crossbone by the way, Crossbone the Zebroid. If you don't survive today, at least you'll have learned something new in your last hours."

Omega stared up at Crossbone, rejecting his hand, "And what makes you think I'll let myself die today, hmm?

The pseudoroid let out a hearty laugh, "Ohoho! A feisty one! Surely our leader will let you join us then, we need more of your type! Or are you just bluffing?" The pseudoroid stuck his face precariously close to Omega's catching him off guard.

"Hmm... what an intriguing smell..." muttered the zebroid. Omega wasn't sure what his emotions should have been right then, but he was pretty sure his face was reflecting something between indignation and utter confusion.

"Huh?"

Poking at Omega, the robot began strutting around him, eyeing his build, "Strange, strange, now that I notice, you've got an air of age about you that exceeds that of some of the finest antiques I know of. Hmm, you're quite artfully constructed, too..." Without warning, he pulled out a strand of Omega's hair and immediately placed it on some sort of device embedded in his wrist.

"Hey, what was that for!" Omega complained, rubbing the back of his head where it stung slightly.

The pseudoroid completely ignored him. His eyes opened wide as some data appeared on a small screen.

"Oh! Well! Look at that! You're constructed out of a completely unknown type of metal! Ho ho!"

Crossbone smiled at Omega, "I'll tell you what! I'm an expert on fine antiques, hmm? And something about you is telling me to keep you around! When I get picked up, I'll be taking you with me. Let's see what secrets you are hiding."

Omega wasted no time in drawing his gun and shooting a charged shot at the offending pseudoroid, "Like hell I'm going anywhere with you! I'll kill you before I let you treat me like some object!" he roared.

"I have no intention of killing you now, if I can avoid it," said the zebroid, "quite aggressive, you're exactly the type of object Legion would want to hide away. If I tried to kill you it would only damage you. I don't like appraising damaged antiques. But, if you insist on putting up a fight-!"

He raised his arms, forming them into two cannons, the skulls on his shoulders blazing, "Then I'll make sure that your end will be swift!"

Two teal shots burst forth from the guns, aimed towards Omega. The skull-like shapes of energy dispersed harmlessly against the ground as Omega jumped out of the way, onto a waiting boulder. He jumped again as another pair of shots came towards him.

"You'll have to do better than that!" taunted the red reploid, dashing to safety. He aimed a shot of his own at Crossbone, smirking as it hit.

The zebroid stumbled, but deftly recovered. He jumped backwards away from Omega, aiming a volley of shots at the blur of his enemy, who was dashing so fast that the colours of his body seemed to copy themselves behind him. Omega dodged the blasts, slowly making his way towards the mutos. He fired another shot; it hit the zebra and caused him to flinch and stop shooting.

Omega changed his gun into a sword, dashing at Crossbone. He was about to swing when the zebroid suddenly dashed straight at him!

The God of Destruction was surprised by the maneuver and stumbled. Crossbone twirled, viciously kicking Omega in the back of the head.

"Hah! Your brain circuitry isn't as important as the rest of you, I can damage that as much as I want!"

Omega fell to the ground, momentarily stunned. He rolled out of the way just in time as Crossbone jumped, slamming his hoof into the dirt in an attempt to crush Omega's head. He was kicked mercilessly in the face for his efforts and sent flying into a rock. His head it hard, and he was still from the slight shock.

He got up, shaking his head to dispel the dizzy feeling spinning his mind. Crossbone was taking aim at him again. Sword still in hand, Omega swung it haphazardly, sending an electric wave careening towards the mutos, who broke off his attack to avoid being hit. The release of energy cleared Omega's head.

"What the-?" stuttered Crossbone, apparently taken aback by the long-range attack coming from a short-range weapon.

"I've got more where that came from!" Omega cried smugly. He shot at Crossbone twice, then flung another Shockwave at him. The zebra leapt over the shots, then dashed through the wave.

Omega narrowed his eyes. He'd done that strange dash technique twice! During the dash, he'd gone slightly transparent. So, he could dash through things? That's how he'd avoided the earlier attack!

"Enough of your cheap tricks, time for you to go down!" Omega roared. He punched the ground, sending rocks into the air. Crossbone jumped back, energy charged at the tips of his guns.

"Ho ho ho, two can play at that game!" yelled the zebroid. He put his guns together at the ends, then slammed them into the ground, "Have a taste of this! Phantasm!"

Skeletal balls of energy radiated out from Crossbone in a manner very similar to one of Omega's own attacks. He didn't have the time to retreat to safety and was hit by two of the bursts. He fell to the ground.

"All things return to dust in the end, and you're no exception! Now cease to exist!" Crossbone ran towards Omega, intent on ending it.

Omega stood up, faking a dash towards Crossbone. The mutos fell for it, executing his own dash through Omega. The red reploid felt a prickly feeling as his opponent passed through him. He whirled around, his sword at the ready. Crossbone finished his dash, stopping for an instant to recover from the technique. It was all the time Omega needed. With a battle cry Omega dashed at Crossbone's back, executing his signature seven-strike combo. Then, with all the power he could muster, punched the zebra in the back of his head.

Crossbone went down hard. Omega jumped back. As the zebroid lay there, completely immobile, Omega allowed himself to relax. The stupid pseudoroid wasn't even breathing, laying as still as the stones from which the waterfall fell.

He sighed, then turned to other pressing matters. He looked over at the bomb, perched precariously on a pile of rocks. Going over to it, Omega noticed that it wasn't set, simply flashing zeroes at him as if asking to be activated. Omega didn't oblige, instead dismantling it and scattering the parts. He took one particularly large component, probably the explosive materials themselves, and tucked it just over the edge of the falls. It was secure, hidden by the white spray of the water.

He looked back at the pseudoroid, who was still down on the ground. It had taken some time to dismantle the bomb, and seeing as the mutos still hadn't moved he could assume that the thing was either dead or deeply unconscious.

Just then, a loud call was heard. Cheers echoed faintly over the landscape, the indefinable yells of the race's announcer rising above the forest.

Oh shit! The race!

Omega jumped straight off the mountain, completely disregarding the height. He fell into the bush, dashing back to the trail. Branches whipped and cut him as he weaved through the trees. He arrived at the trail, glancing briefly about to find the signs showing which way to run. Omega kept going, running and dashing at a breakneck pace to try and catch up. He kept going, the ominous silence of the forest pressing him onward. Fifteen minutes later he finally broke through the trees. Ahead he could see the last of the stragglers crossing the finish line. Determined not to be dead last, Omega threw caution to the wind and put everything he had into running towards the fluttering paper streamer. He noticed a cameraman waiting at the line. The cameraman made to turn.

Omega's foot faltered. It was a grave mistake.

The God of Destruction, speeding as fast as he had ever done in his life, tripped. The blur of his speed, his clothes cracking against the air as his body pushed through the winds, turned into the incredibly ungraceful colours of his limbs sailing through the air. He'd been going so fast that, when his footing had failed him, he'd launched himself straight into the ground!

Omega rolled, his arms and legs out of control and his hair obscuring what precious little vision he had of the spinning world. Dirt was scooped up into the skies leaving little craters where some part of his body had dug into the soil. Small bumps in the road turned into miniature launch ramps when Omega hit them, sending him bouncing into the air. He covered a lot of ground quickly in the worst way possible. Finally, he started to skid, leaving a trail behind him. One last roll landed him right on his face. He stopped, inches from the finish line painted on the ground.

Omega's face was in the dirt, his arms flung forward and the rest of his body straight in the air.

One second later, the last of his momentum slowly pushed his feet forward. He flopped onto his back, his face covered with dust. The camera was pointed straight at him.

The crowds burst into laughter. Aeolus, standing on top of a podium, smirked smugly at Omega.

"Well, look who came in last."

Omega's eyes widened. He'd come in last.

Dead. Last.

Shadowing his face, Omega looked away from the mirth-filled groups of people roaring in laughter at his expense. He wanted to murder them. He wanted to _murder them all_.

But... the camera...

Omega's fists clenched in rage. He struggled to his feet. Iggy, situated lower on the podium, looked at him with concern.

He ran. He ran into the forest, disappearing into the green woods. He ran away from the crowds, the howling people, the smug wind mega man, the cameras and lights and gaily fluttering banners. He ran, until the sounds of the crowds had disappeared and the forest encircled him entirely. Nothing but the quiet tweets of birds and the soft rustle of leaves assailed his senses now.

Crossbone.

The first thing that came to his blank mind was that damned zebroid. That zebroid, whose efforts were what cost him this humiliation. He screamed at the skies, so innocent and blue. His eyes settled on the mountain.

Nothing but a lust for blood was in Omega's mind. All other thoughts were erased, his eyes misting up with red.

The blue symbol on his forehead glowed. His eyes glowed. Another scream escaped his lips.

Oh, there would be a reckoning.

X X X X X

Aeolus waved from the top of the podium, smiling victoriously at the crowds below him. An announcement rung out, hailing the winners of the race. Below him in second place was a monkey pseudoroid, and in third place was an iguana reploid who looked rather crestfallen despite having finished with a high rank.

This bothered the wind mega man. She seemed preoccupied with staring at the forest, where the mercenary had disappeared earlier. Why was she so worried about him? His pride clouded his judgement slightly, and for the life of him he couldn't understand why she would be so worried about a useless fool like him.

The monkey turned to him, he shook its hand before it left to collect its prize money. The iguana blinked in surprise when it realized that it, too, was being offered the hand of the wind mega man.

"Congratulations, you did well for a pseudoroid."

She nodded instinctively, lightly clutching Aeolus's hand in return, "Thanks."

The wind mega man was a bit put-off by her lack of concern with who he was. He tried to generate some small talk to break her out of whatever stupor she was in. "So, what brought you here?"

"Mmm, I thought it'd be fun to enter the race..."

"Oh, really? I came here on an assignment, actually. We'd heard that there was going to be a terrorist attack. Looks like the fools chickened out, though."

"Yeah, I guess..." the reploid replied.

She still was acting indifferent, which infuriated Aeolus to no end. He kept at his assault, "So, what do you intend to do with your prize money?"

"Lab set..."

He really couldn't take her attitude anymore, so Aeolus got straight to the point, "So, was that man your friend?"

She snapped her head to him, finally paying him attention, "Oh? Yes, he is. I don't think he thinks of me like that, but-"

Birds suddenly flew up from the trees in a panic. Off in the distance a sound, indistinguishable because of the distance, cut through the merriment of the crowd.

"What the hell was that?" One of the civilians yelled.

Whatever it was, it sounded again. Unfortunately, the cheeping of the birds disguised it, their panicked squawks drowning out. Then it grew dead silent as the birds swooped in a great flock through the air, returning hesitantly to their previous perches. Calm returned to the clearing, filled with unease.

"Daddy, was that one of those mountain monsters?" asked a child somewhere.

"Monsters don't exist dear," was the automatic response.

"Whatever it is, it's a long way off. Why are we worrying about it?" Aeolus yelled over the murmurs of the crowd. They turned to him expectantly, "I'm sure it was just a mountain lion or something. It's nothing to worry about. Now, weren't we just rounding up the celebrations?"

The groups of people returned to their activities, all except for one. Iggy was back to staring at the forest. Aeolus sighed in frustration. Oh, whatever, that pseudoroid was a lost cause.

And hour passed. The rewards were handed out, pictures were taken, the crowds left. Only Iggy stayed. In one last attempt to get her to see reason, Aeolus asked her, "Why are you staying?"

"'Cause my friend is still out there. Besides, he's the one that drives the ship."

She didn't even look at him when she replied. Aeolus left, muttering with disgust.

X X X X X

Blood red eyes scanned their surroundings; hands grasped the landscape lightly as he sped forwards.

The mindless murderer jumped over the top of a boulder, his eyes settling on the vacant space where the body of Crossbone should have lain. He jumped, landing on all fours on the spot. Raising itself to its feet, the monster gazed around for its prey. A sudden noise caused the creature to turn.

Crossbone jumped at Omega from behind, his ambush a success. "Die, you worthless anti-!"

The zebroid's voice froze in his throat from fear. The look on Omega's face petrified him.

Crossbone lost his life that day, in the snarling jaws and shredding claws of a great red demon.

X X X

Omega didn't notice the info for his new EX skill as it popped up in his mind. He didn't bother to contemplate the meaning of "EX SKILL; ZEPHYR". His frame shuddered, trembling from the after-effects of emptying his rage in a single moment of brutal savagery. His weapon lay forgotten in his pocket, his mind too numb to comprehend his surroundings.

He was too empty to notice Iggy climbing into the clearing hours later. He didn't hear her gasp of shock as she saw the carnage. He didn't feel as she took the remains, tossing them over the side of the mountain and into the forest, where they would never be seen again. Omega, in shock from the recent events, could not see as Iggy pulled out a cloth, didn't feel it as it cleaned the blood off his hands and face. He dully let himself be led back to the ship.

Iggy placed him against the leg of the Harbinger, looking back up at the mountain. She, too, was stunned. There was no way she could report this to Scimitar. No one must be told of this. No one.

"Hey..."

Omega slowly looked up, unsure if he was the one being addressed.

"Hey. You. I don't know your name, but... you saved my life. I still owe you a lot for that. I won't tell anyone if you don't. Promise."

Omega seemed to come back to the world of the living. He moved his head. "Uh... okay... Promise."

"Okay. Uhm... we'd better go back to Hunter's camp. Looks like everyone else is gone, so there's no need to radio a tower or anything."

"Yeah. That's good."

Omega and Iggy got into the Harbinger, Omega driving them back to the camp. It was night, and only the ship's lights and the twinkling stars illuminated the forests disappearing into the shadow of the mountain. They left the scenery far behind, finally arriving at the camp in the complete silence after midnight.

Omega got them both out of the cockpit, then opened the hangar door. They both pushed the ship back inside, where Omega promptly dropped into the pile of pillows in the back corner of the hangar. Iggy silently closed the door, locking it with her own pair of the hangar's keys.

She looked at the keys. She'd kept her own pair, just in case she needed to come in and repair the ship while the mercenary was out. Iggy gave the hangar door one last glance before walking slowly away, towards the transporter in Hunter's Camp.

One thought crossed her mind.

She would watch him from now on.

* * *

Finally, another chapter is out! Man, this one was a bit hard to write for some reason, but anyways, I hope you enjoyed it!


	21. Polar bear swim

Omega wanted to sleep in. He really did. After yesterday's gong-show of a race, he really wanted a break, a day to himself. He still wasn't quite used to having so many people around him after being alone for so long.

Unfortunately, some higher deity seemed to like making his life miserable.

Thetis stood outside the door to Omega's hangar, knocking politely. _Knock, knock, knock_.

And he hadn't stopped for the last _five minutes_.

The red reploid grimaced, wishing that little shit would just go away. Didn't he get the message?

_Knock, knock, knock_.

Apparently not.

_Knock, knock, knock_.

This wasn't working...

_Knock, knock, knock_.

And it was starting-

_Knock, knock, knock_.

To get-

_Knock, knock, knock_.

REALLY annoying!

_Knock, knock_-

"Would you _STOP THAT_?"

"Ah! I knew you were in there!"

Omega face-palmed. Whoops.

"Hey, come on, open up! I don't have all day!"

Conceding that the jig was up, Omega slowly got to his feet and opened the hangar door. Thetis was just outside, tapping his foot and frowning with impatience.

"It's about time you opened that up! Why didn't you open it earlier, huh?"

"I was hoping you'd go away so that I could rest," replied Omega truthfully.

Thetis looked taken aback for a second, but the laughed, "Hah hah, I get it lazybones! You didn't want to come out, eh? Well, too bad! I've got some plans for us today!" He beckoned for Omega to follow him. Seeing as Thetis wouldn't give up if he said no, Omega merely sighed and followed. A hot, dry wind howled through Hunter's camp, warning of a dawn that was sure to rise soon.

Omega growled, "So, what plans do you have? Let's hear it!"

"Well," smiled Thetis, "since I taught you to swim, I thought it might be good to follow up on the lessons! You know, make sure you remembered! And then I saw about this polar bear swim that was going on, to raise money for the environment, right? I thought it might be a good challenge for you!"

"You just couldn't find anyone else that wanted to swim with you, could you?"

"Aheh heh heh..."

Omega rolled his eyes. "So, anyways, how are we getting there? Might as well get this over with."

Thetis perked up, "Oh, easy, there's a mass transport going there from the Hunter's Camp teleporter."

The God of Destruction grimaced again. He wasn't too fond of groups, but what choice did he have? Thetis raced ahead, forcing Omega to quicken his pace. They arrived at the teleporter behind several groups of people, most of them in swimsuits but some in shirts and shorts. A few of them looked familiar, but Omega pushed that aside when he noticed something else. Each group lining up to the transporter were flashing some sort of card to the operator before being sent off to whatever destination they were headed. Omega leaned over to Thetis, "Uh, hey, what are those cards they're using up there?"

Thetis stared at Omega. "Uhm... did you just ask what those cards are?"

"Yes, something wrong with that...?" Omega frowned.

"Those are Hunter Ids. You need them to use the trans-servers here. Are you telling me you don't have one?"

"If I've never seen them before then obviously not," snapped the crimson reploid.

"Uhm, what about a legion ID? Have that?"

"Nope."

"Citizenship card of any type?"

"Nada."

"Oh, cripes."

"What?"

"We can't use the transervers if you don't have an ID! How have you gotten around before, huh?" panicked Thetis.

Omega shook his head in annoyance, "I've used my ship or had someone else with ID with me. Geeze, can't you do the same? You're a mega man, for crying out loud!"

Thetis rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Well, no, actually. Me and a few of the other mega men, we... we made a bad decision, and because of that, we're on watch from Legion. I'm not sure they'd trust me to bring you with me, I mean-"

"No, I get it. One person on watch getting another person on watch_ without_ ID through a teleporter circuit would make you look even worse. Hmm, I thought you worked for Legion, though?"

"Only to make up for what I did, and to raise concern about the environment..."

"Then call them, geeze! I'm sure they can arrange something."

"Err, okay..."

Omega waited impatiently as Thetis brought out a communicator, calling Legion to try and get clearance. Not only was he being forced to do something with an idiot like Thetis, he was kept waiting because of a lack of ID. What a pain. That was a problem he was going to have to fix.

Thetis finally finished, sighing with relief. "Okay, that wasn't as bad as I thought. We can go ahead, we just have to tell the operator what's going on.

Omega nodded, and they went ahead with the plan. The operator let them through, smiling confusedly at the situation but complying anyways. The pair stepped onto the transporter with a few others. Omega vaguely wondered where the polar bear swim was taking place.

Thetis looked away from Omega, unnoticed. He'd neglected to mention that Legion wanted him to keep a _very _close eye on the mysterious mercenary...

xxxx

The moment the transport sequence ended, the drop in temperature became blaringly obvious. Rather uncomfortably, too. More than a few gasps of surprise rose from the transporter crowd as they quickly filed off the transporter, rubbing their arms to keep warm. Omega was less phased than others and acted indifferently, but he couldn't help but feel the difference as well.

Thetis was the only one who seemed to enjoy it, "Ah, nothing like a cool dip in the morning!" He grinned aloud.

"Cool? It's bloody effing _cold_!" replied a smart aleck in the crowd.

As the group slowly slipped off of the trans-server, several began to stumble as they slipped on the icy ground. The slightest trace of snow fell chillingly onto the frozen sea below, the temperature dropping as the wind blew through the barren landscape. The sun shone brightly, hindered only by the faintest wisps of high clouds. Down the middle, a wide lane of snow had been pushed to the side, making room for the large mass of people slowly skittering towards the open area of deep blue water.

Omega was pushed along and Thetis seemed too excited to notice that he'd been split from his swimming buddy. That didn't bother the god of destruction, though; the sooner he was able to get in and out, the better.

From a covered booth to the side of the pool, and announcer began his speech. "Welcome, everyone, the seventeenth annual Polar bear swim! Thank you all for your participation! As you all know, our generous patron-"

"Hey, Bead!"

The new voice came from somewhere in the crowd, unheard by most except for the one to whom it was addressed. Omega's eyes shot open as he jerked in the direction of the sound.

"Oh, hell no, not here..."

"Hey! Long time no see, where the heck have you been!"

The leader of the gem gang, Diamond, was struggling to get through the crowd. Omega began walking backwards as the white-haired man slowly made his way towards him. A quick glance behind Diamond confirmed the God of Destruction's fears; the rest of the gang was there, also making its way towards him!

"-are donating six hundred dollars for every collective minute the entrants of the swim can stay in the water! There's also a prize for the person who can stay in the longe-"

"Bead! Hey! We were worried about you, get over here!"

"-without further ado, let's begin!"

For once, Omega was happy for the crowd. It surged onwards with a wild whoop, straight into the frigid waters. Screams and gasps were audible in the chaos, and no one noticed when one contestant dived whole-heartedly into the water. With such a large mass of various hairstyles and colours and people, Omega disappeared with surprising ease under the below zero waters.

He swam well, alright. Straight down. Under the thrashing feet and bubble filled water of the surface, the cold forgotten as he dove deep into the glaciated depths. He sank quickly, the sounds of the crowds on the surface swiftly muffled to nothing by the oppressive depths. He finally levelled out about sixty feet down, where chunks of submerged ice jutted out from the ocean floor another twenty feet below.

Omega didn't have a plan for what he was going to do next. He obviously couldn't stay down too long or someone would notice his absence. At the same time, it was a hell of a lot more peaceful down here than it was up there. Omega sighed in happy relief. Well, he might as well enjoy himself while he could.

Deciding that a minute was all he could spare, Omega basked in the serene scenery of the ocean's floor. A surprising amount of life was hidden under the cold blue surface of the waves. Small algae clung to the rocks, some animal life-forms swimming about in clusters nearby. Starfish by the dozens marched ever-so-slightly on the ground below, attacking molluscs everywhere they went. Something large loomed in the distance.

Something that didn't quite seem to fit.

Omega fixed his gaze upon it, watching it as it made its way towards him. When it came into sight, Omega knew he was in trouble.

It was a large, sailfish like pseudoroid. The mutos regarded him with its harsh red eyes, its teeth jutting out into an eternal grimace. Its tail and fins were composed of sharp, hard looking ice, and yellow spines erupted from its plated back. Opening its large jaws and snapping them shut again, the sound of the bite echoed through the water as it slowly swished its lance-like nose.

"So, a little fish has come down this far into my domain? How interesting. And here I thought all the fun would have to be at the surface."

Omega frowned, not liking the vicious attitude of the mutos at all. "Hmm? You came here to have fun?" He looked up at the people above, then back down at the pseudoroid, "Perhaps... with them?"

The mutos sniggered cruelly, "Yes, yes, I came here to kill a few morsels for my master. We'd heard the Model L mega man was going to be here... nothing like killing a mega man to put the fear into Legion! But, ah, it looks like I get to have a little warm-up first."

He stared hungrily at Omega, then began circling his prey. Omega reached down to his pocket for his sword, only to have a sickening discovery.

He'd forgotten it.

"My name is Oceatar the istiophoroid, by the way. Nice to meet you, but I suppose this is also goodbye..."

Oceatar stopped moving, aiming his nose towards Omega, "Because pretty soon you're going to die!"

He suddenly increased his speed, surprising the God of Destruction. The crimson demon was forced to twist to the side, barely avoiding the mutos' attack. Oceatar changed direction, coming at Omega again. Omega dodged. Several times this pattern repeated. Oceatar was grinning widely, enjoying the game and eagerly awaiting the time Omega would fail to dodge.

Again he sped forward, but this time Omega tried a new strategy. He punched at the istiophoroid's side as he went past. It glanced of the swiftly moving fish pseudoroid's armour.

Oceatar laughed, "Hah hah hah! Is that the best you can do? This is what you get for picking a fight with me!"

Oceatar lunged again, but this time, he too tried something new. He span in circles, his icy fins cutting a dangerous path through the water. Omega was hit and sent flying, a cut newly appeared on his arm.

Realizing that the pseudoroid had a clear advantage in unobscured water, Omega tried to swim down farther into the depths. If he got to the bottom, he could get some obstacles between him and the fish, as well as some purchase to increase his ability to attack.

Unfortunately, Oceatar wasn't having any of that.

"Ooh, is the little fish gonna try something? Fat chance!"

He increased his attacks. Omega was hard put to dodge, and was eventually caught in the gnashing teeth of his foe.

Oceatar swept his head side to side, trying to rip Omega's arm off. Omega countered by punching Oceatar's eye as hard as he could. This made the pseudoroid let go, but the attack had done its damage; Omega was too far from the ground to get there in any reasonable amount of time. However, it gave the red reploid an idea for another way to attack.

As Oceatar turned around to attack again, Omega braced himself. Instead of dodging like usual, he grabbed the istiophoroid's nose and spun himself around to where he was positioned against the fish's side.

"Oi, what?" Oceatar said, surprised.

Omega's answer was to punch the fish repeatedly in the head. Bubbles arose as Oceatar thrashed in the water, trying to rid himself of Omega.

"Argh! Get off get off get off!"

He bolted in one direction, then another, but even the rushing water didn't phase Omega's fierce grip. He kept hitting away whenever he could, driving the pseudoroid into a rage.

"Okay, that's it, if you don't want to come off, I'll damn well make you!"

He abruptly changed his course, heading straight for the surface.

"ICE BREAKEEERRRR!"

When Omega finally recovered from the excess water pressure caused by Oceatar's change in direction, he managed one glance towards their destination before letting loose a curse.

"Shit!"

**xxxx**

The contestants of the Polar Bear swim shot out of the water almost as quickly as they went in. Some people couldn't stand the water for more than five seconds, but most stayed in for about thirty. Draped along the frozen banks, contestants lounged with heated towels provided to them by the hosts of the swim.

Diamond gazed around, first at the people on the banks, then at the swimmers still in the water who were slowly spreading outwards. Repeating this gesture several times, his expression changed from anger, to annoyance, to outright worry. Sapphire, the team's medic, was attending to the shivering twins. Her blue hair bobbed about freely as she turned her head, unburdened by the water since she was the only one who hadn't gone in.

"So, have you found Bead yet?"

Diamond spared her a solemn glance, "No. I haven't. I can't find him either on the banks or in the water."

Sapphire's expression quickly turned to shock. Diamond turned back to his search. He cupped his hands around his mouth, yelling to anyone listening, "Hey, all of you? Have you seen our buddy? We can't find him! He's got long white hair and a sour expression!"

Few people bothered to look up from their individual activities, but a boy in the water with short blue hair spoke up. "Oh, him? I brought him here! Why are you looking for him?"

The boy swam to the bank edge of the ice where Diamond had stationed himself. Leaning down, Diamond explained, "That guy, he's an old buddy of ours we found wandering in the desert. We tried to get him to join our group, but he got shy and ran off. We hadn't seen him since until today, but he's gone and disappeared again."

Thetis looked curious. "You know him?"

"Yeah! Something wrong with that?"

"Oh, no, of course not! I was just under the impression that he never socialized. Found him in the desert, hmm... er, ah, anyways, you're looking for him? Where is he, anyways?" The ice mega man looked around just as Diamond had. He, too, became concerned when he realized that Omega was nowhere in sight.

He frowned, calling out, "Oi! Anyone! We've got a missing person here, anyone seen him? He's got long silver hair and is wearing red! Anyone?"

That caught a few people's attentions. A small search party began, more and more people entering when they realized that no one who fit the description was about. Even the announcer joined in, calling out for Omega to answer.

There was absolute silence. Even the crowd, normally boisterous, was dead quiet. Despite the fact that they didn't have as much instinct as Omega, it didn't take a lot to realize when something had gone horribly wrong. Thetis got out of the water, megamerging to the surprise of many.

"I'm going in! Keep an eye out for him!"

It turned out, they didn't need to.

The ice suddenly burst open, chunks of frozen water and spray flung aside as the duelling pair breached the surface. Omega finally let go of Oceatar's head, his grip dislodged by the shock to his system. The pair slammed into the ice. Omega skittered about, his traction all but gone due to his water-soaked condition, and Oceatar flopping uselessly because of being, literally, a fish out of water. Omega alternated between trying to gain a footing and attacking the mutos, cussing and swearing all the while. The istiophoroid, however, was able to recover his traction first. Taking advantage of this, he savagely whipped his body to the side and slammed the prone reploid scratching and kicking beside him. The blow hit him soundly, sending Omega straight into the unbroken ice they were on. It shattered upon impact, splitting open the back of his head. Screams erupted from the crowd at the sight of the pseudoroid, who slipped into the ocean soon after.

Thetis leapt into the water.

xxxx

Omega recovered instantly due to the extreme pain of his partially open skull hitting the icy water. He clutched the back of his head, screaming in rage and pain. He glared around for Oceatar, who was sweeping back to deliver a finishing blow. Omega, instead of dodging, grabbed the lance-like nose of his opponent and redirected it to the side. He received a scratch on his chest for the effort.

"Oh, going to try holding on again? It won't work, give it up!" taunted the istiophoriod.

Omega, one hand on his rapidly healing head and another on the pseudoroid, wasn't in a state of mind to listen. He roared.

"_Die you sunnuva bitch_!"

Omega let go of his head and hit Oceatar just above the eye. Oceatar reeled. Omega's strikes were getting stronger.

"What! Gwaah! Since when could you hit this hard?" the fish struggled, throwing off the aim of the blows aimed at his eyes and head. However, when Omega did hit, it did major damage. The armour of the pseudoroid was barely a match for the enraged God of Destruction`s blows. A series of dents appeared along Oceatar`s side, wrecking his streamlined design and threatening to damage the circuitry beneath it.

"Gyyyaaaaaaarrrrgh!"

Oceatar struggled, aware that he needed to get Omega off as soon as possible. One last flail dislodged Omega, and Oceatar swam off. He swerved again, sizing up the red reploid.

"You damnable bastard! It's about time I killed you, enough of this!"

Omega took the moment to take a breather, desperately trying to think of a way out of this situation. Despite the facts that his blows had mysteriously grown stronger (how so he had no idea), it was still a useless upgrade if Oceatar hit him first.

Oceatar poised to strike, then suddenly increased his speed. Omega braced for the hit.

Again, the blow was redirected. But this time, it wasn't by Omega.

"Get out of here you stupid fish!" Thetis yelled.

Oceatar was taken aback by the introduction of a new fighter. He retreated, taking stock of the intruder. Thetis swam in front of Omega, putting himself between the reploid and the pseudoroid, "Piss off already! Go away, shoo!" He fell into a stance, his halberd at the ready.

Oceatar grimaced. Omega had been one thing, easy prey in his watery domain, but after getting surprised by how much that "prey" could fight back, he wasn't too keen on taking on a mega man as well. The istiophoroid stopped for minute, then swam away. He disappeared silently into the gloom.

Omega wasn't sure that was such a good thing, but Thetis didn't lose a moment. He grabbed Omega, powering his way to the surface with the injured battler.

They breached the surface . Excited and relieved cheers greeted the two. Omega spat out a lungful of icy water, gulping up air greedily. Thetis dragged him to the edge of the ice, leaving Omega holding the side as he raised himself out onto the ice.

"You okay?" Thetis yelped.

Omega gave a daredevil smirk.

More cheers accompanied him as he clawed his way back onto the ledge, his legs beating the water as he lifted his torso out.

Oceatar made his move.

Leaping straight at Omega's unprotected back, there was little else but his feral, joyous scream to warn Omega as he closed in for the kill.

Omega jerked around, his eyes meeting Oceatar's victorious glare.

Pure instinct kicked in. Something splattered on the ice. Time seemed to stop. Omega, somehow, had Oceatar's lance in one hand, his other raised.

Oceatar's eyes widened. His gaze turned fearful, his body fully out of the water from his charge. He couldn't move.

Every last ounce of strength Omega had left was put into a final punch, directed straight down.

The next instant, the pseudoroid sank below the wave, his mechanical skull caved in. Omega grabbed a towel someone held nearby, holding it as tightly as possible against his side. Thetis jumped back into the water.

Omega stood up abruptly and shouted, "Home! I want to go home!"

The crowd was stock still for a moment. Then a disagreeing murmur arose.

"No way! You need to go to a hospital!"

"How the hell are you even standing up? You were attacked!"

"It's a miracle you've survived this long, you need medical attention immediately!"

Omega smiled widely, "Hah! A miracle, to be sure! Not! I admit, it hurt a lot, but he was only toying with me! Thanks to Thetis I got out of it before he got serious, but that pseudoroid didn't do any real damage! See?"

He smacked his side. Omega was hard put not to cry out in pain, but kept a smiling face on anyways. The last thing he wanted to do was admit any weakness.

"Bullshit! Look at all that blood you've lost!"

Amethyst, the purple member of the gem gang, pointed his finger aggressively at the shore, "You can't tell me that you're fine if you've lost that much blood!"

Omega turned around, surprised at the pool of red dripping into the icy ocean. He looked back, still smiling, "Oh, geeze, you're a bloody worry wart. That's watered down, can't you tell! Yeah, I lost some blood, but not that much! It's just an optical illusion, neh? No prob!" However, despite the grin plastered on his face, Omega's temper was quickly weakening.

He started walking to the transporter, "Now, can someone send me back home already? I don't have a license actually, 'cause I came here with my friend. I'm going to borrow someone else's."

Diamond stepped in front of him pointedly. "No. You've just been attacked and wounded, what you need is-"

"Medical attention blah blah blah," Omega snorted. "Look, if I really needed it that badly, I wouldn't be walking about and smiling like this, now would I? I just need to go somewhere and relax, and if it's really that bad I'll get some help, okay! Yeesh!" he snapped.

That put Diamond off. He had to admit, if Omega was moving around the way he was, he must have been fine, even if a little in shock.

"Are... are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, now give me your license so I can go home already!

Omega growled defensively. Diamond was taken aback by Omega's fierce attitude.

"Fine, fine, you win, you can borrow mine. Just give it to the operator when you're back and she'll give it to me, okay?"

"Hmph."

Omega took Diamond's Hunter's license when it was offered to him, then slowly drudged his way to the trans-server.

Because it was covered by his hand, no one noticed the towel he held at his side.

It was gray when he'd gotten it. Not anymore.

xxxx

Thetis jumped back out of the water to a silent crowd. Heads were directed away from others, many deep in their own thoughts or trying to deal with the shock of the attack. Someone to his right asked quietly, "Did... did he get him?"

"I couldn't see the pseudoroid. It got away." Thetis replied emotionlessly. His eyes were downturned.

He looked up, "Where's that guy? Is he okay?"

"He left. He actually demanded to go back to hunter's camp. He seemed okay, he stood up pretty quickly afterwards. Just a little angry."

Thetis nodded. He looked at the splatter of blood on the bank, slowly being washed away by the melting ice and waves rippling out from where Oceatar sank.

"I just hope he really _is_ okay..."

xxxx

Upon arrival at Hunter's Camp, Omega made an immediate beeline for his hangar. After giving the operator the card to return it to Diamond, he lunged at the door. Stumbling and clutching his wound, he had to work hard to focus on his surroundings. It seemed forever until he was finally home, leaning against the hangar to take a breather. The towel covering his wound felt soaked through. Only a few hunters glanced his way every now and then, and those that did so were given the nastiest glare that they`d ever received in their short lives. Most of them simply glanced away after that. After all, they were pretty much used to his weird behaviour by now.

The lock clicked open. He shut it again as soon as he was inside. He flopped down heavily onto the pillows behind the ship, immediately regretting the action. Fresh blood seeped through his entirely-red towel, the plush fabric overfull. Settling into a more supported position, he finally lifted the towel to inspect his wound.

Immediately he replaced the towel to stem the resulting flood of crimson.

He`d only had a second to look, his vision blurred and tunnelling, but it was all the time he needed.

Oceatar had done far more damage than he`d previously thought.

Finally the blood loss was too much. Omega fell into unconsciousness, panting and grimacing. Things weren`t looking at all good for the God of Destruction...

xxxxxxxxxx

Somewhere in Legion, a deep frown resided. It belonged to an investigator researching the result of the grand race held yesterday. Reports had come in of a contestant not registered in the race roster.

And to top it off, that contestant had never reached the finish line.

Any good investigator of the day started with satellite recordings. They were always there, watching the activities of people from above. He'd had to work hard for a warrant, but had finally gotten access to the recordings of the race.

The investigator cursed his luck. Whichever satellite had gotten the recordings must have been malfunctioning. The data was damaged, and a certain area of the recording had always been indistinguishable. Almost as if it was censored, or the data had been removed... oh well. He'd make do with what he had.

And what he had was a frightful scene. Due to the damaged recording, he couldn't see what had happened beforehand, but currently...

Craters, scrapes, and thick patches of blood and burns dotted the top of a mountain. There were no bodies evident, but the investigator had no doubts that there was one somewhere.

Legion would hear about this...

xxxxxxxxxx

Complete blackness consumed the hangar as the last of the day's light left the landscape. A small knock came from the door of the hangar. Then a thud. Then a bang.

"Hey, open up! It's me, Iggy! I've come to see how the ship fared after her flight yesterday!"

She received no response.

Iggy hummed to herself, "Hmm, maybe he's out? Ah well." She fiddled with the keys, letting herself into the hangar. She took a few steps in, eyeing the ship.

A strange jangle echoed throughout the previously silent room the moment she looked away from the Harbinger. Her startled gaze was set on the pool of blood hidden behind its rear leg. The keys had dropped to the floor, forgotten. She dashed forwards, falling to her knees in front of Omega.

"Oh my God, what happened!" She felt his neck for a pulse. It was there, but weak. Iggy threw aside the pillows, laying Omega flat on his back and deftly opening her tool box. She thanked whatever god was listening that she'd decided to bring her toolbox along, in case she needed to do any small repairs on the ship. It would do just as well fixing whatever was wrong with the red reploid unconscious at her feet.

She inspected the deep wound at his side, bringing out a vial. She quickly took a sample of blood to check for infection later. For now, she corked the vial and put it away, then carefully opened the wound to assess the damage.

What she saw next stunned her. It wasn't the severity of the wound (and it was pretty severe, an artery had been cut!), but what that wound had affected. Where normal reploids would have something akin to a digestive system, he had a power core! Oh, this was bad. She hoped like crazy it was a secondary power core, because if it was a primary one, the mercenary was as good as dead. She fell to work immediately, repairing as much as she could of the tubing leading to the complex mechanism. The half of her mind not focused on repairing Omega was pondering the reploid's anatomy. Hmm, yes, it had to be a secondary power core. If it was the only one, there would have been no pulse, since it had received damage and consequently should have killed the mercenary.

And yet, while that explanation made sense, it only made things stranger. Why would a reploid need _two_ power cores? First of all there wasn't a need for that much energy. It would also mean that there wouldn't be enough space for other systems, such as the "digestive" system. Not to mention other systems that civilian reploids needed to be ordinary, including a couple that were, ahem, _recreational _in nature.

Then it hit her. This reploid, whose life she possibly held in her hands, wasn't made to be allowed that sort of thing. This reploid was designed, through and through, to be a weapon. No ordinary life, no choice in the matter. A literal killing machine, as further proven by yesterday's incident...

Her main repairs were finished. The circulation to the secondary core had been restored, and it came to life. Iggy was forced to retreat her claws as Omega began to heal before her very eyes. Other damaged systems, far too complex for Iggy, began to repair themselves without any outside assistance. The secondary core slowed down, so did the healing. All the vital systems had been repaired, and now it was up to the primary core to finish the job.

Iggy absent-mindedly cleaned her claws with a rag, staring at Omega's slowly healing sides.

So _that's_ why there was a secondary core. To heal him when his fate should have already been sealed. Located in his abdomen, it was situated in a place where, even if he was nearly cut in half, it would work with his other core to repair his wounds in no time flat. That was dangerous. He could, literally, come back from the brink of death, if not beyond, and keep fighting when all others would have perished long ago.

A weapon. A deadly weapon. That's what she was staring at.

When she thought back on it... That artery was already repairing itself when she had gotten to it. If she had just sat there and watched, it might have healed itself, and the long haired reploid could have woken up another day, completely unfazed. She took out the vial of blood from earlier. What sort of secrets would it contain?

Iggy stared down at the God of Destruction, who was still unconscious due to blood loss. But, for all she knew, that wouldn't last long. She had no doubt that the lost fluids would regenerate themselves soon enough.

Taking her things with her, Iggy left the hangar. Again, this was something that she would tell no one. Not even the mercenary himself would be aware of this. He'd probably just think that his systems had done their work, and he'd be back and up-and-at-'em like it was just any other day.

Obviously he could be wounded, and therefore killed. But damn, Iggy thought, he'd be one tough bastard to slay. She had no idea how true that was.


	22. Captured!

Hey guys! Sorry that it took so long to update! University got in the way... But I hope that this makes up for it!

Just be aware that this chapter contains a fair bit of swearing. Happy reading guys! And Merry (belated) Christmas!

* * *

"Thank you for your time. You may leave."

"Yes, sir," replied Diamond.

The leader of the Gem Gang and his followers left. Master Mikhail stood up as well, leaving the interrogation room.

He walked slowly down the gray, threadbare corridor of Legion's intelligence chambers. Dim, fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling, as there were few windows to light the area naturally. Mikhail considered the information that he'd just heard, coming to an unsettling conclusion.

Mikhail's face was still scrunched up in concentration as he entered the recently renovated chamber at the top of Legion. The windows had finally been repaired after Albert's outburst, and an impromptu meeting was taking place. A table had been dragged from somewhere, and it now seated all the mega men and Master Thomas.

Thomas greeted Mikhail, "Good evening, Mikhail. What lies on your mind? Something from that interview?"

Mikhail shook himself from his concentration, replying, "Yes, actually. What an interesting bunch, that Gem gang. They're all a little eccentric, but blatantly honest. It seems that they first found this mercenary character of ours less than a day after the Ouroboros incident."

"That would seem a little too suspicious to be a mere coincidence. No one saw him before Ouroboros crashed. That, and there is no mention of him in any government database. Not yours, not anyone else's. He doesn't even have a citizenship or Hunter Id card either, if Thetis' statement is true." Aeolus looked at Thetis, who vigorously nodded in agreement.

"You don't think that he could be a replacement reploid like me, right? You know, when Albert dies, he wakes up?" Grey suggested nervously.

The others surveyed him gravely before Siarnaq added a rare comment, "INPUT; SITUATION IMPROBABLE. THE POSSIBILITY OF MULTIPLE D.A.N. REPLACEMENT MODEL REPLOIDS IS LOW."

"But it's still not an impossibility. It's probably something we should keep in mind," said Prometheus.

"What's D.A.N. stand for?" asked Atlas.

Pandora explained, "D.A.N. stands... for 'Doctor Albert Number'. It's what he labelled... his special creations. Such as us. Prometheus was D.A.N. 001, and I'm D.A.N. 002."

"Hmph. I've never been gladder to be rid of that egotistical bastard." Atlas chuffed.

"Siranaq is right, though," Thomas stated, "this reploid, pardon my saying, just seems to be a little too aggressive to be a programmed replacement for Albert."

"I don't know about you, but I don't think Albert was very good at programming replacements," chortled Ashe before proceeding to poke Grey's cheek.

As Grey swatted her away, Aile and Vent added their opinions, "It's all very well and fine speculating what he is, but unless we can get closer to him, or at least keep a better eye on him, then we'll never know for sure."

"The only thing we actually know for certain about this guy is that he's uncommonly strong, aggressive, and all around dangerous."

Thomas looked at Aeolus, "Speaking of dangerous, remember that one race that you participated in not long ago? It seems that there was an extra energy signature detected in the line-up, presumably a pseudoroid one from the readings. Whatever the pseudoroid was, though, it didn't make it to the finish line. I suspect that our mystery man had something to do with it."

"So, in other words, he's all too willing to kill things. That's not someone we want running around." Aeolus noted.

"So we just make sure he _can't_ run around! Surely Legion can arrest him for something?" Thetis piped up.

"Even if we arrested him, it might not be a good idea. Guys like that don't like being on short leashes or in captivity, and I've no doubt that he'd sooner turn around and gnaw yer' face off than submit to it quietly. Trust me on that one," Prometheus objected.

"But you do bring up a good point, Thetis. We need him here, where we can watch him properly. But all we have to keep him here is speculation. There aren't any witnesses, and speculation rarely gets you an arrest warrant." Mikhail replied.

"Hey... if he were to fall ill to a contagious disease, Legion would be obligated to put him into quarantine whether or not they wanted to, wouldn't they...?"

The whole table turned to stare at Ashe with shock.

"Are you suggesting that we try to kill him!" Pandora yelled defensively.

Ashe gestured in a placating manner, "No no no, of course not! It just has to be contagious, not deadly! I think I have a good idea of what we could do. Remember that virus that went around a year or so back? The one that caused all that mischief?"

They looked at her for a second before Atlas smacked her forehead.

"Remember it? Do I! I caught the bloody thing! It went around Hunter's camp, Legion, everywhere! I swear I'll never look at a ball of yarn the same way again. Bloody stuff gets _everywhere_!"

"That damned genius of a prankster who made it never got found, did they?"

"Who knew that one virus could be so much of a pain!"

"My friends teased me with bells. _BELLS_ I tell you! They tied 'em on and... It just drove me crazy!"

Siarnaq looked away uncomfortably. This was noticed by Aeolus, who rose an eyebrow.

The shadow mega man weakly held up the end of his favourite frayed scarf, pointing at the ripped ends. "TREE."

Thomas actually cracked a smile, "Ah, so even mega men were affected by it, were they? What was it called again?"

"The I forget, uhm... give me a minute, I remember it being something fairly stupid."

"Hey, this virus thing...whatever it is, who's going to infect him with it?" Grey asked meekly.

He wilted under the mischievous stares coming from his comrades.

"Well, seeing as it's _your_ turn to watch him today..."

Grey gulped. This wasn't going too well...

X X X X X

Omega was sore. Stiff and sore. Tired, stiff and sore.

Did he mention sore?

Omega woke up to throbbing aches in his stomach, a murderous headache and an apparent inability to focus on anything. He tried to get up, but the moment he was on his feet he felt queasy and fell straight back down.

Nonetheless, he got back up again.

His feet slid across the floor and the pungent odour of blood stifled his nostrils. There was no doubt about it; he'd live and recover, but that incident with the pseudoroid had cost him a lot of blood, and very nearly his life. How humiliating.

Omega vowed that he'd never let his weapons be anywhere other than by his side at all times. He tore off his clothes and threw the blood-stained articles into a corner. Then, stumbling around, he picked up all of his pillows and tossed them into the corner as well. The few pillows which had remained miraculously clean were flung onto the ship to keep them out of harm's way. If it wasn't for his serious mood, he might have laughed as one bounced off the back of the ship and covered the face-like projection on the front.

But then, Omega wasn't going to laugh for a _long_ time.

He stared dolefully at the bloody pile in the corner, then went and grabbed his sword.

Well over half of his pillows were in that pile, but Omega no longer saw them as useful. In hindsight, he grabbed the pillows off the ship and threw them into the pile as well. He stalked over to it, lifted his sword with the point straight down, and stabbed the pile.

It burst into flame, belching up acrid smoke and the foul scent of torched vital fluids. The God of Destruction flinched involuntarily. He was used to the smell of burning flesh and blood, but it was unnerving that it was his own.

Then he mentally slapped himself.

How pathetic he was becoming! For two hundred years he had trained and slept on a hard, cold, uneven ground, and it hadn't bothered him one bit. Then he'd got out and gotten those god-damned_ pillows_! And look how soft he'd become!

One simple, pathetic pseudoroid had nearly nixed him. Absolutely _pathetic_!

He watched that dratted little pile of filth burn, burn, burn. It was all because he had forgotten his sword that the pseudoroid had been able to get close at all. Hah! Next time, just let it_ try_ to get close! He'd stab its rotten guts out!

The last little corner of the pile disappeared into ashes. Omega slowly stumbled over to a window, opening it up a crack to let the acrid smoke out.

How soft-minded he had been to forget his weapon. What kind of God of Destruction was he to let that happen?

He was never going to be soft like that again.

The next step was to wash away all the blood. He couldn't let it be a reminder to him, or anyone else who decided to snoop in his hangar, that he was at all touchable. He would _never_ be weak again, thus, he would never be harmed again, not like yesterday.

Grabbing his bucket and filling it with cold water, he aimed his first shot at the pile of ashes, then watched the dusty particles slip down the drain.

Not long after, the hangar was again clean. Omega sniffed. Well, not quite. There was still the scent of burning and blood. He breathed it in gratefully, no longer afraid of it because of its source. It reminded him of the good old times.

Still wobbly, Omega sat down in the middle of the floor, sitting in his traditional meditation pose. He still needed time to recover, and he needed to remind himself who he really was. Why not kill two birds with one stone?

He sat, stock still on the freezing floor, and closed his eyes. One deep breath of the air was all he needed to knock himself back into his world of memories.

There was blood.

There was flame.

There was genocide.

Screams, cries, collapse, torture, hatred, killing, destruction, death, rent, ruin, insanity, smoke, instinct, murder, roars, primal necessity and primal joy.

Omega smiled, ever so slightly.

Yes. _This_ was who he was.

X X X X X

Grey stood outside the ominous hangar, his fist poised to knock on the door. Something on the wind smelt of death, and Grey had stopped, trying to pinpoint the source. He'd stood there for a full ten minutes, unable to figure out which direction the small came from because it was so faint. However, having been unable to trace it, he decided to return to what he was supposed to be doing.

He knocked on the door.

X X X

Omega heard the knock, but was so deep into his thought process that he didn't realize what it was at first.

He was more concerned with a lovely little daydream he was having. Somehow he'd finally found Zero, and the fake was cringing at his feet begging for him to stop ripping him apart piece by piece. Of course Omega wasn't listening, instead enjoying the game of "how-many-ribs-can-you-slowly-remove-before-the-lungs-fall-out".

It was when one of the ribs made a _knock knock knock_ sound instead of the usual prolonged, brittle snapping that he remembered that there was a reality he needed to return to.

With a regretful sigh he pulled himself back to his hangar. Standing up with only a small bit of dizziness, Omega was happy to note that his recovery was progressing well. Omega threw on an outfit then opened the door. Who else was there but some short little gray haired-

Oh, wait. Wasn't he that mega man who'd snuck into his hangar a while back?

"What... do you want?"

X X X

Grey heard the tone in his target's voice and knew, instinctively, that he only had a short time to pull the ploy off.

"Oh h-hey, you're up!" Grey smiled.

Omega's cold, dead gaze dropped the smile off Grey's face faster than a tonne of bricks would have. Some part of his mind told him that, at least with a tonne of bricks, he could just have turned into Bifrost and thrown it away.

The guy's gaze? It was cold and merciless.

He found himself wishing fervently for the bricks.

Swallowing his fear, Grey managed to continue, "Anyways, how are you? W-we heard about that attack the other day and wanted to check up to make sure you were okay..."

An ever so minute but frightening frown appeared on Omega's face, and an angry glint appeared in his eye. It was as if the mere _suggestion_ of his being hurt was some mortal insult.

"I am... perfectly fine." He said dangerously.

Grey noticed the thin ice he was treading on, and how scary the guy had become since the incident. Something had definitely changed this guy's attitude, making him far more dangerous than they'd initially expected.

It didn't help that Grey had just pinpointed the source of the smell.

"Uhm, what's that smell?"

Oh, that?" Omega glanced over his shoulder, "It's just my clothes. They were so blood-stained and torn that I thought I'd burn them."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Grey leaned forward, extending his hand. "You need a doctor-!"

At the mention of "doctor", Omega's mind flashed briefly to the name of the man who had been his former master, Doctor Weil. Omega slapped away Grey's hand viciously, a monstrous rage appearing suddenly on his face

"_Fuck_ the doctor! Do you _dare_ suggest that I need something from worthless beings such as yourself? I'm done with being a weak as you expect me to be! Now _**BEGONE**_!"

Grey ran for it. He'd done what he needed to do, and there was no way in _hell_ he was staying longer than he needed to.

X X X

Omega snarled as the boy left. How insulting! That stupid boy had it coming, and he'd be the one there to deliver it. And fuck Weil! To hell with a doctor, he was fine on his own! He absent-mindedly rubbed his arm where he's felt a slight sting as he'd knocked away the boy's hand. He must have hit a knuckle or something... oh well.

He returned to his position of meditation and immediately fell back into the scenario he'd left. Zero was again snivelling and weeping in pain at his feet. Eyes opened impossibly wide in terror as the tormentor returned, eager to work off his rage.

"Now then, where were we?"

X X X X X

As Grey rounded a corner in the alley he'd entered, he nearly ran right into Siarnaq.

"INQUIRY; MISSION SUCCESSFUL?"

"Yeah... I got him. He's infected." Grey lifted his palm to reveal a miniscule needle, now emptied of its contents. "Thanks for the suggestion, I couldn't have pulled it off without it."

"MISSION IMPERATIVE, PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES NECESSARY," droned the black reploid.

Grey smiled, "Yeah, really. Still, thanks a bunch. I don't think this could have been put off a day longer, something about him has changed. He's scary, Siarnaq. Really scary."

Siarnaq's expression didn't change. However, as Grey finally let himself begin to shiver in fright from the experience, he nodded sympathetically.

"UNIT GREY HAS COMPLETED PRIMARY MISSION. UNIT SIARNAQ WILL MAKE A STATUS REPORT AND PROCEED WITH SECONDARY MISSION. UNIT GREY IS UNECCESSARY FOR SECONDARY MISSION AND SHOULD RECUPERATE."

Grey sniffed, then smiled, "You know, for a guy that is supposed to be an emotionless robot, you're really nice. Thanks."

Siarnaq said nothing as they retreated to report their mission's success.

X X X X X

Thomas and Mikhail seated themselves, listening to the report with interest. They took the necessary measures, let Gray go for the day, and put the finishing touches to their plan in motion.

As Siarnaq left the decorated hall, Tomas leaned back with a sigh, "My, my, it's just one thing after another... Well, at least this matter with the mystery reploid will be easier to deal with.

Mikhail frowned, "At least it's going smoothly. With all this international tension caused by Albert's actions, we can't afford to lose any more time on one reploid running around than we need to. At the same time, all the warning signs are there, so we can't ignore it. Hugh, it's hard enough to get Legion's credibility back as it is. If we let something big slip out right under our noses..."

He let it hang. Thomas nodded in agreement. They wouldn't have a leg to stand on if he turned out to be an Albert clone, or something else. He couldn't think of anything worse, but there were probably more possibilities than he could think of at the moment.

The shorter of the two masters picked up a schedule lying inconspicuously at his side, reading from it. "One fifteen: receive report from Megaman concerning virus. One thirty: finalize preparations for Operation Cat-in-the-Bag. Honestly, I have no idea why they need to give it a name like that. Hmm, we got that all finished a bit early actually. Should we move on to the next meeting, or take a short break?"

Thomas shook his head, "We'll be able to have a break after five. Let's get this over with, it might take longer than we've scheduled. After all, we have no idea who the next person is. What was the title again?"

"Let me read. One forty five: meet the ambassador of Neo Arcadia. What the hell is a Neo Arcadia?"

"Language, Mikhail," smiled Thomas, "we might not give a good impression if we start swearing like sailors. Perhaps it is a budding nation or some separatists? With all this national turmoil, it's not a bad time for creating a new country, I suppose. Hmm, I thought you'd have known about Neo Arcadia? It wasn't me who put that on the schedule."

"Wasn't me, either. Maybe the secretary would know?"

"We ought to contact her anyways to see if the ambassador is here."

Thomas reached over and tapped a code into the touch screen at his side. The face of the secretary appeared."

"Yes, sir?"

"Have you any idea what Neo Arcadia is?"

"Uhm, pardon?"

"Neo Arcadia."

"Oh, no. I thought you did?"

"No, I don't. That's why I was asking you. You were the one who put that meeting into our schedule, correct?"

The secretary nudged her glasses, "Um, no sir, it was there when I looked on the computer this morning. I thought you had inserted it..."

Thomas and Mikhail looked to each other. "I think I'd better call up one of the mega men," Mikhail stated.

"Call one of the guardians. They can come in here pretending to have business if they need to."

"Good idea."

Thomas stared into space, a worried frown pasted on his features. His attention was suddenly taken by the vid-screen. The secretary was apparently greeting someone. She turned to the communicator.

"Sir, the ambassador is here."

"Very well, send him in."

Five minutes later, the elevator door across the room opened, revealing a striking figure. A long, dark blue robe with lighter blue sleeves adorned the figure's body, hiding a presumably lean frame underneath. Light blue, gold and red details decorated the robe in simple but regal patterns, especially around the sleeves and chest.

However, the head of the figure contradicted enormously with the peaceful demeanour the rest of the man's outfit attempted to portray.

Thomas had seen the blue helmet of Model X's armour only once, but the resemblance was uncannily similar. A deep red gem decorated the center of the helmet, and lighter blue strips framed the face and lead from the gem to the back of the helmet. As with his robe, the helmet was simple but elegant.

What really unnerved Thomas were the ruthless, calculating red eyes. Without even looking, he knew Mikhail already had his finger on the hidden alarm button on his throne.

Blue metal boots clanged slightly as the man made his way across the floor. Stopping a few metres in front of the masters, the man gave a slight bow.

"I am honoured to be here. Thank you for meeting me."

The cold and logical voice echoed around the silent chamber. Thomas readjusted his position.

"What is your purpose in coming here?" he inquired.

The figure straightened, "I wish to form a tentative alliance with Legion, if you will. I am searching for something."

Mikhail shrewdly observed the stranger, "Information? Interesting. Speaking of information, may we inquire as to where you have come from?"

No flicker of emotion crossed the man's face as he answered, "I am sorry, but I cannot say. I assure you that I have good reasons, but unfortunately I cannot answer many, if any at all, of the questions you are considering asking me. I would ask you though, have there been any large-scale attacks recently?"

Mikhial shrugged. "Well, Thomas, I don't know about you, but if he's not willing to give out any information, then neither am I."

"I think this warrants further discussion from both sides," Thomas answered. He turned to the ambassador, "There is plenty of information available on Legion's public servers. Feel free to search those since they are open to the public. And no, there haven't been and large-scale attacks that I know of, just a few minor scuffles between nations. If you'd like to know more, use the Legion databases. If you want to know more than what is on there, then you will have to come back so that we may discuss the matter more."

"I appreciate it," the man said, turning, "I will be going now. Thank you for your time."

He walked towards the elevator. Thomas saw a design on the back of the robe that he'd been unable to see before, six stylized wings connecting to an inner red orb.

Just as he was about to step onto the elevator, the man turned partially, "Masters, I realize that it way quite rude of me to expect information without giving any of my own. I apologize, but my situation demands digression. Still... It wouldn't hurt to at least leave you with a name. You may call me Seraph if you wish."

With that, Seraph stepped into the elevator as the door opened.

Vent dodged around Seraph, giving him an odd look. As the door closed, he looked at the Masters.

"What the heck was his problem?"

X X X X X

Omega was blissfully deconstructing a still-squirming Zero for the umpteenth time when he first realized that something was wrong.

Zero's blood was everywhere, and the butchered, screaming form of his barely-alive victim suddenly became uninteresting for a second as his thoughts strayed to something more interesting.

_Hmph. What I wouldn't do for a ball right now..._

Omega blinked in his imaginary world. Zero even stopped screaming for a second as Omega did a double take.

_Wait... a ball? Why the hell would I want a ball! Yarn is better-_

_Oi, what the hell!_

Omega shot straight up. His eyes flared wide open in shock. All his previous thoughts of keeping his cool and being stronger went straight down the drain just like the ashes had. Omega glanced around the hangar. Something was wrong and he _knew_ it. But what was it!

He perked his ears, a little farther than usual, and he didn't even notice that they weren't where they were supposed to be. He stalked around the hangar, convinced that someone was after him, and... strangely enough, it was kinda fun!

Wait. _FUN_? What. The. Hell.

Then he had an itch. It was right above his backside, just at the base of his spine. Omega reached down absently to itch it, but ended up grabbing something.

His tail twitched in response.

Oh. Lord. Omega slowly turned his head to look down at the tail clutched in his hands. It was the same colour as his hair, a silvery-white, and was very long-haired, fluffy, and soft to the touch.

His head snapped instantaneously to look at the ship, where the surface zealously polished by Iggy clearly revealed the full extent of the change.

"I... have... cat ears..."

Indeed he did. They too were white and long-haired. They trembled, then stood straight up.

A cat person. Omega suddenly came to the realization that, somehow, he now looked like a cat person.

Omega, the God of Destruction, was incapable of panic.

He was, however, _more_ than capable of _freaking-the-fuck-out_.

The inhuman scream froze the spines of everyone in Hunters camp.

"EEEEEOOOOOOOOOOWWWRRR!"

Incapable of forming a coherent sentence in his outrage, Omega merely screamed in a manner that was, ironically, very cat-like. He started jumping and dashing around the hangar, bouncing off of the walls, floor and various parts of the ship.

_What the hell was this!_

_What was he going to do?_

_I wanna play!_

_Grey! It must have been Grey's fault! That's the only person who had been here today!_

_I really wanna play!_

_That little bastard was going to die! Die die die! Right now!_

_Where the heck is a ball, I wanna play_!

Omega dug his newly formed claws into the ground, making an abrupt 180 degree turn and kicking up dust as he faced the front of the hangar.

That little _shit_ was going to die for this!

Omega burst out the front of the hangar with all intentions on finding and viciously murdering the grey-haired boy into oblivion.

A ceratanium net stopped his progress.

"You are now under the protective confinement of Legion, under page four hundred fifteen of the lawful confinement act pertaining to contagious diseases and other outbreaks!"

Crowds of hunters who had come to watch what the Legion soldiers were doing backed off with gasps of astonishment at seeing Omega, who was currently struggling blindly against the nets with his face to the ground. He bolted in one direction, dragging the net and the surprised soldier for a metre before they regained their footing.

"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you, however this confinement is for the protection of both you and other citizens and will be negated upon the digression of a ruling administrator-"

Omega gave a powerful lurch forward, attempting an escape and howling ferally. The Legionnaires were nearly thrown off, but hung on grimly.

"-efforts to resist will be punishable by law and acted upon accordingly in a court of-"

As his rights were read to him and a bag shoved over his head to prevent him seeing his captors, Omega gave another shrill yell, trying to jolt the net away from his captors grips several more times. He didn't stop roaring in rage even as they dragged his struggling body to the Legion transporter, kicking and screaming.


	23. Neko virus? Beware of the silver beast!

Hey, SubZeroChimera here! You may or may not know it, but I have an account on Gaia online. One of my friends on there gave me a TOTALLY cool item, called the G-can, so this chapter is devoted to them!

Give it up for Neko Mettaur Crystal! Whoo!

And also for Aniral, for being the go-between. That's not an easy job with me around... XD

Disclaimer: I don't own anybody in this chapter. I may have different names for them, but they're still not mine!

X X X X X X X X X X

"Let me go!"

Still encased in the ceratanium net, Omega was being dragged by Atlas and Vent, both fully megamerged.

"Grrgh!" Atlas gritted her teeth, holding onto the entangled reploid with all her might.

The trio were heading down a long, gray corridor, with numerous door on either side as they passed. There were no windows or decorations, and only a few others people in the hall. Those people ducked into the reinforced doors as the group passed, and for good reason. Omega, still struggling wildly as they pulled him closer and closer, was making dents in the walls and long scratches on the floor. One only had to look at the trail of deep gouges and scrapes on the floor, as well as the walls, to see where they had come from.

"Aaaaiiiieeeeowwww!"

Vent grimaced, "Oh shut up and co-operate, it's not that bad!"

"All we're going to do is give you a medical examination, geeze! Frickin' calm down!" shouted Atlas.

"Eeeeeeeeaaaaaaaah!"

Unfortunately for them, Omega was already too far gone into his incoherence. The only reason they had gotten him so far into the Legion medical bay had been because he'd struggled himself into relative immobility within the confines of the net, but that situation still didn't allow him to calm down and think things through. Quite the opposite, he was beyond the point where he could even think straight.

Omega howled in rage and terror as the door to their destination opened. Then he saw what was inside.

An operating table.

Just like the one Weil had used so long ago.

Omega froze

"See? We're not going to kill you, it isn't so bad," Vent consoled, mistaking the sudden lack of squirming for a moment of insight.

Omega scrunched his body protectively, bringing his hands in front of his chest and his feet to his buttocks. His tail, miraculously poking through the net, curled up to his face. His ears laid flat. His eyes widened.

That table...

Atlas grunted as she picked him up, the sight of a megaman picking up a full grown neko-ized man almost comical.

"Guh, you're a heavy bugger, aren't you? Come on, we're only going to take an X-ray to see what the virus has done to you."

A doctor smiled calmly at them as they entered. In the God of Destruction's eyes, the friendly smile twisted into a smirk, then an immoral sneer as the brown hair floated upwards, whitening. The whole face was slowly covered in an orange glow and the legs disappeared. Soon the gentle white doctor's robe darkened and burned into a sinister black, ridged with a burning red as a familiar cackle echoed throughout his mind.

"_There you are, Omega! You've really done it this time, you stupid wretch."_

_The low lighting above the table barely illuminated the room, the corners hidden in shadows as the smell of blood and other fluids permeated through his nostrils._

"_I order you to retrieve on simple little file, and then what? You damage it! You're goddamn lucky I was able to salvage the information I needed!"_

It wasn't my fault,_ he thought,_ it had been damaged already when he got there.

"_You even got yourself hurt in the process too. Can't you even pull off one mission right? Last time you let the scientist live, the time before that you were seen..."_

It wasn't my fault. You told me not to be seen, you told me no shooting!

"_Tch. I know I programmed you to be stupid, but even this level of failure is ridiculous. Oh well, get over here, I'd better repair you."_

Please no. I can heal on my own!

"_Come one, Schilt, bring that sedated bastard over here."_

Please no.

_The bat mutos dragged the barely-conscious reploid over to the table, strapping him down. The sedative dart in his shoulder was cruelly ripped out._

"_You may leave, Schilt."_

_The bat left._

Please no!

_Omega couldn't speak because of the modifications, the most he could do was utter a despairing groan._

_Weil tapped some sort of tool on Omega's head, thinking aloud to himself as he injected an anti-sedative into Omega's systems. He began repairing the damaged arm, slicing off mangled circuitry and installing new parts..._

_All without giving him a painkiller._

No.

_Weil finally finished the grisly work, Omega attempting to keep his face emotionless but gritting his teeth behind his lips._

"_Well, fortunately the repairs were minor. Hmm, I suppose, now that you're in here, it would be a good time to test some of your systems. Heaven knows, it seems that there's something wrong with you._

Please no. Not that again.._._

"_So..." Weil sneered, looking down at Omega. "You seems to be getting hurt a fair bit lately. Shall I test your nervous systems first? I think we should start..."_

No.

"_...with your damage recognition system. Sound fun?"_

No!

"_Yes, let's start with that. Oh, and Omega...?"_

_His hand strayed to a knob on the computer nearby, the one Omega was connected to. He slowly turned it to the '100 volt' mark._

"_Don't fail me again."_

_He turned it on._

"_**NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**_!"

An unholy howl echoed through the corridors. The kindly doctor paled and jumped backwards as Omega suddenly convulsed. His tail smacked Vent across the eyes as he whirled around, temporarily blinding him. Omega's claws shredded through the net. He was out the door before Atlas even realized that all she was holding was an empty pile of ceratanium cords.

The doctor, thinking quickly, hit an emergency announcement button.

"All personnel in the corridors evacuate immediately, we have a contagious patient on the loose in block D-22!"

The announcement echoed through the medical bay's PDA. People scrambled out of the way, some even locking themselves in containment chambers, as a shrieking God of Destruction hurtled past.

"What an absolutely wonderful time to realize that he's phobic of operating tables." Atlas noted sarcastically.

Vent was rubbing his eyes as he replied, "Or doctors. One of the two, if not both. Contact the masters, they'll know what to do."

X X X X X

Seraph was wandering idly through the halls and rooms of Legion, investigating the surroundings in which he now resided.

He looked out a window at the colourful city, wondering whether or not he missed the constant green of cyber-space.

An attendant, who had been following him until a short while ago, caught up with him, a recently used communicator in her hand.

"Sir, I'm sorry to cut your wandering short, but we have a situation. A patient in the contagious diseases department has just broken loose, and they're planning to trap him in the courtyard garden. He's going to be led through this room very soon, and we don't want you to be infected."

The chief of cyber police raised his eyebrow, but nodded and walked towards the exit. Just as he was getting there, though, shouting was heard. More attendants rushed in through the exit with shields and protective garments, blocking him and the way out behind them.

"Is he here already?" the first attendant asked, somewhat fearfully.

A yowling answered her question. A silver blur dashed into the room, bouncing rather loudly off a wall. It turned, heading straight for Seraph.

The attendants braced, and the blur was deflected. Another door opened across the hall, and the silver streak quickly headed for it.

Not quickly enough, however, for Seraph to miss seeing a flash of long hair and black skin.

"Who was that?" he asked suddenly. Something about that blur had set him on edge, and he didn't like it one bit.

"I d-don't know the name, sir, but it's apparently someone who was infected by the neko virus. Apparently, he was phobic of operating tables and had run out of the room before they could do anything about it," replied his unnerved escort.

"I thought they'd gotten rid of that blasted virus ages ago..." another muttered.

Seraph slowly calmed himself down. Upon seeing the black skin and white hair, he's made an immediate connection to Omega, but...

Well, the guy was phobic! Omega certainly hadn't been afraid of anything. To think that one poor sod with a cat virus had made him think of the God of Destruction right away... he shook his head. He really needed to stop jumping to conclusions.

X X X X X

Omega's last strain of consciousness had recognized that face instantly.

_Copy X? How the hell?_ He thought, utterly confused.

Unfortunately, that last moment of confusion is what tipped the scales. Up until then, he's at least been able to form a few small coherent thoughts, mostly just _run, run, not there, run_. However, with that last realization, that final blast to his sanity, all thoughts went out the window .He unconsciously resorted to the instinct of fear that this stage of the neko virus brought with it.

For once in his life, he panicked.

X X X

"Eeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!"

Aeolus winced as the scream rebounded through his ears. Then he braced, blockading the hall away from the dashing blob of despair running through Legion.

He sighed in relief as Omega went in the right direction.

He turned on his communicator, "Aeolus here, he's heading west now. He should be in the garden in a short time. Has it been evacuated yet?"

"AFFIRMATIVE" was the response from Siarnaq.

"Once he enters, I want the area quarantined. He needs to calm down, so give him a half hour before attempting retrieval," stated Master Thomas.

"Hey guys," Ashe piped up, "doesn't it seem like he's going through the stages a little fast? It took me a week to get into the first full neko mode when I got sick, and he's already in fear mode. It won't last long, you know..."

"I'm more worried about what comes next," gulped Thetis, "oh wait, here he comes!"

A bumping sound and a yowl was heard over the communicator. "There! He's in!"

"INITIATING LOCKDOWN... LOCKDOWN SUCCESS. OBJECTIVE CAPTURED."

"Ah, good. Why are you so worried, Thetis? The next stage is feral mode, you know, the instinctual one? He's likely just to go hump a tree or chase something."

"Hump a wha-?" Grey asked.

"Nothing for you to concern yourself with, Grey," Aile answered stiffly. Atlas could almost feel the glare burning through her, even though Aile was nowhere nearby.

"It's not going to be as easy as you think, guys, he's got a really strong fighting instinct, I don't think-!"

"Oh shut up, fool. Quite being so paranoid," snapped Aeolus.

"Alright, you know what to do, in half an hour, meet up at the east entrance and recapture him. In the meantime, I have a mission briefing to do," Thomas said. Signing out of the conversation, he turned his attention back to the matters at hand. He was seated in the main throne room at Legion, Mikhail at his side. Before him stood the siblings, Pandora and Prometheus.

"I take it you heard some of that conversation?" Thomas inquired.

"Yeah. Sounds pretty intense," Prometheus smirked.

Thomas nodded, "I don't think it's as serious as Thetis seems to think it is, but precautions must be made anyways. So, you can see why we don't have anyone else left to investigate this new phenomenon."

"Hmm. Troublesome," Pandora murmured.

"Anyways, the mission; after investigating the crash site of the Ouroboros, we realized that parts were missing. Further searching revealed that a small part of Ouroboros, the head, crashed into a nearby mountain range. We hadn't been able to find this earlier because of the thick forests surrounding the area. We've done some preliminary data-collection, but more in-depth study is needed. We didn't want to sacrifice regular investigators or soldiers, because there may be small fragments of the Model W left. We doubt this, as no maverick energy signatures have been found, _however_..."

Mikhail shifted and Thomas looked directly at the siblings, a stern look on his face, "There _was_ some other energy detected. We have no idea what it is. It was a miracle we were able to detect it, actually. A soldier in the site found a small crevasse leading into the earth, and on a whim pointed his sensor into it. Anywhere else, the sensors hadn't detected the energy, but directed into this miniscule crack in the ground, the man's sensor was off the charts with an unidentifiable energy."

Mikhail stood, "We need you two to investigate. We can't risk this being spread to the media, or anywhere else. We also need a mega man, just in case there is a surviving Model W weak enough to have escaped detection."

"We realize this is potentially dangerous," Thomas said, "but with the other mega men preoccupied, you're the only ones available. In order for you to defend yourselves, we have made some concessions to our 'contract'. Here."

An attendant entered, bringing with him two familiar objects. A scythe and a staff were held in front of the siblings, who greedily snatched them up.

"Yes! Alright!" Prometheus exclaimed. Pandora smiled widely.

"Now, don't get too excited," Mikhail cautioned, "they're only recreations. The scythe can produce a blade, but no elemental attacks, and is not as strong as your real one, Prometheus. The staff cannot attack at all, but can still hover and produce barriers."

Prometheus was grinning enormously and Pandora was humming to herself as she sat on the floating staff. Then she looked over, "Why?"

"Because you've proven yourselves worthy enough to at least be able to defend yourselves," Mikhail explained. "Now, hop to it! We need this mission done as soon as possible. The attendant will lead you to the transporters."

As Pandora and Prometheus left the room, a cyber elf whisked inconspicuously out the window from behind the throne, trailed down to the floor that the pair was headed to, and materialized in an empty room.

Seraph walked out, moved to the elevator and waited for the siblings to emerge.

"How interesting. Perhaps I'll accompany them."

X X X X X

In the garden, things were amiss. A terrible creature was loose.

A small gecko saw the creature, and its instincts forced it to stand still as a stone.

Those instincts saved its life. Another creature, a deer, ran instead. It didn't get very far.

Only when the beast was fully distracted did the gecko override its instincts and attempt its getaway.

Alas, the gecko had misjudged. The movement was seen, and another life taken.

X X X X X

"Where the heck is he, anyways?" complained Atlas, kicking a tree.

Aeolus sighed as, for the umpteenth time, she started cursing, although at least it wasn't about their inability to find the crimson reploid this time. No, it was because the tree had been a little harder than she'd thought.

"DESIST VOCAL FUNCTIONS. VOCAL FUNCTIONS RISK REVEALING THE LOCATION OF UNIT ATLAS TO THE OBJECTIVE."

"And us, too!" grumbled Thetis, who was_ still_ looking around like the apocalypse itself could jump out at any time.

Unknown to the rest of the mega men, he wasn't too far off. Of course, they just took him to be paranoid.

"Would you_ quit it_, Thetis? You're really starting to annoy me!" Ashe growled.

Thetis finally quieted down, but he muttered constantly about them when he thought they couldn't hear him.

Thick trees rose around them wherever they went as their shoes scraped against the idyllic cobblestone path. Flowers swayed ever-so-slightly in a gentle breeze that rustled deep green leaves, as well as thick vines entwined along the ground and branches. Small amounts of light came down in shafts dancing with dust motes where it could fit between the expansive canopy overhead.

And yet, for some reason, the leaves rustling and the chromatic flowers swaying were the only sounds except for the chatting of the mega men. A fact that was rather unnerving to the two mega men who noticed it, Siarnaq and Thetis.

Of course, the rest were too busy snapping at each other to figure out why they were on edge.

"All right, that's it!" Aile shouted.

The others turned to look at her, startled.

"We're not finding anything in this noisy group, especially since we're all sticking to the path! This is feral mode, right? Maybe he's climbed a tree or something, for all we know. We need to split up, for cripes sake!"

"Grey and I could fly into the trees to look," Ashe noted immediately.

"Good try," Aile smiled, "but you could do that just as well with Aeolus._ I've_ got Grey."

Ashe muttered, and Aeolus looked rather put out at being treated like unwanted baggage. He megamerged and flew off, pouting (not that he would admit it).

"Oi, wait up!" Ashe called after him, transforming into Vulturon and making a rather ungainly takeoff in order to catch up.

"Split up? Oh come on, he's just a stupid cat, we can find him!" Atlas muttered. "I _hate_ jungles like this, you can't see ten feet in front of you! Why the heck would Legion have a jungle for a garden, anyways? It doesn't matter if it's kinda pretty, it's just a nuisance. Give me a nice battlefield any day, wide open and bright and..." her complaints faded into illegibility as she started to swear under her breath.

"You aren't scared of being unable to see your surroundings, are you?" Thetis smirked.

Atlas stuck out her tongue.

To the side, Vent sighed despairingly. Aile smiled knowingly, "You know what? You might as well come with me and Grey then Atlas, if it's so much trouble. We're going to stick to the main path. Anyways, Vent, you and Thetis can check around by the river we passed back a ways, and Siarnaq..."

Siarnaq, who had been rather discreetly crossing his fingers in hopes to avoid Atlas, snapped to attention.

"Siarnaq, I'll let you go off on your own. You try and find him, but don't engage him yourself. The only reason that you're by yourself is because you're the best at stealth, _not _because I think you can fight him alone. You try that and it won't be our fault if you end up looking like a scratching post. Just find him and tell us where he is."

Siarnaq nodded surprisingly enthusiastically, then megamerged. He disappeared shortly after.

Atlas herself was grumbling less, or at least not as loudly. Aile shook her head in exasperation, but led her trio further into the garden.

As they immersed themselves deeper and deeper into the shaded path, the oppressive silence finally hit them. The stone retaining walls on the sides of the path echoed their footsteps back at them. On top of the waist-high walls, the delicately shaped flowers did nothing to camouflage the facts that the ornately shaped bushes behind them hid the forest floor beyond the cultivated gardens. Nary a bird flapped or chirped, and even the frogs and bugs, who normally were involved in a complicated chorus of chirps and ribbits, were dead silent... or just plain dead.

The breeze no longer stirred, the loss of its comforting touch turning the air thick, and slowly, the scent of peat and rot permeated the air.

Even Atlas was quiet by this point. They had reached a more secluded path, likely designed to be for the more romantically inclined. Seats were embedded in the walls, and there was more ivy wreathing down the walls than usual. Barely any light came through. Atlas slowed down, carefully noting ay potentially revealing details, letting Aile lead the group from a few meters further on. Grey stopped for a moment as the others went ahead, noticed a small drop of something... red? His childish curiosity immersed him in the details of the flower, so he didn't notice when Aile rounded the next corner and Atlas was almost out of sight.

The drop of red lay on a beautiful blue-violet lily, which was speckled with black dots in it center. The flower had curling leaves, and the stem drooped as if mourning the small carcass of a gecko underneath its leaves.

By the time the bushes rustled, it was too late.

Grey's scream cut through the forest.

X X X

Aile's heart clenched horribly when she heard the noise. Cold fear gripped her as she whirled, stunned.

"Grey!" she shrieked.

Atlas was faster than Aile, and was already megamerged and dashing back along the path. Because of that, she was the first to notice the white monster viciously shaking Grey by his neck. The thing was readjusting its fangs, ready to administer the final blow, when Atlas heartily tackled it off the gray-haired boy.

Aile dropped at Grey's side, patting his back as he gasped for air. Grey clasped the red, console-like implement on his chest, for once thanking Albert for his strange design. The thing had two deep, bloody grooves sliced in the front, but if it hadn't been there...

In the meantime, seeing that he was in no immediate danger, Aile had stood up defensively in front of Grey, also megamerged, and was currently trying to make sense of the rolling ball of red armor and silver fur a few meters away.

Atlas closed her eyes as, yet again, her foes made another attempt at gouging them out. She twisted herself into a position where she could finally grasp the combat knife she'd brought along with her, just in case. She slashed at something, receiving a satisfying yowl in response.

The creature retreated from her, arching its back and hissing as she scrambled to her feet.

It was then that the two women could note its features.

It was Omega, but horribly changed. His hair had melded slightly to his back, and was now raised like hackles all the way down to the tail curled defensively towards his assailants. His hands had spread into demonic claws, and his face was no longer recognizable. A velvet muzzle, covered in blood, was scrunched up in rage, showing off innumerable fangs and two canines which had elongated into tusk-like teeth, curving down from his top jaw like a sabertooth tiger's.

Ears were flattened menacingly against his head, and his underbelly and arms were also covered in blood-splattered white fuzz. A deep cut on his neck dripped steadily.

There was nothing remotely human left in the beast's bristling figure. No kindness, no mercy, nothing, none of what made humans or reploids 'humane'.

There was nothing left but pure killer instinct, death and destruction.

His eyes, which held nothing but bloodlust and malice, and were focused on Gray. The pure red, glowing orbs then turned to Aile and Atlas before he roared at them for cheating him of his prey. It was a deep and feral sound, striking them to the core.

"I think we found him..." coughed Grey.

Aile grimaced, "Other way around, there."

Atlas crouched reflexively, and the beast made his move. It pounced at Atlas, bringing her down with a hard hit to her head.

"Son of a bitch!" she yelled at him. Atlas put one arms in front of her neck, stopping the gnawing jaws and a claw just short of her neck, and grabbed his own with another. His other claw tried to scrape away her face, but she twisted him away.

A brutal kick to her gut nearly sent her flying, but she used the momentum to jerk him to the other side. Slightly disoriented, he swiped blindly with his plate-sized paws and kicked out again, badly bruising her hip.

She tried to punch the side of his jaw, but it was as he didn't even feel the crunch of his breaking bones. The monster twisted his stomach, smacking Atlas to the ground again. Before she could even react, he'd put himself on top of her, intent on pinning her and ripping out her throat.

Aile fired a shot at him. With Atlas in such close combat, she couldn't risk getting involved with weapons unless she had a clear shot. Still, for the beast to be able to match Atlas for pure, physical strength... she wasn't entirely sure she _wanted_ to get close!

He roared in anger as the shot hit his side. Atlas used the opportunity to grab his arms to his side and thrown him to the ground. It was like a macabre hug, and the instant she let go she'd be shredded. His tail whipped madly and he struggled wildly, with arms and legs held to his sides. Atlas was quickly getting overwhelmed. In one last, desperate move, she removed her arm, adjusting the angle of her blade.

With a roar, Omega slashed her chest, his claws slicing through her armor. She winced, but it didn't stop her.

She stabbed the honed knife into his chest, holding it steady even as it grated past his dense, strong ribs.

The monster roared. Even megamerged, Atlas couldn't hold on as Omega thrashed, screaming and flailing wildly. He jumped back, then turned quickly, only to hit his head with a sickening _crunch_ against the stone wall behind him.

The broken, furiously bleeding body of Omega flopped limply to the ground with a _thump_.

Atlas crouched, staring down the unmoving body . When it didn't respond, she slowly crept towards it. Steeling herself, she kicked it, then jumped back in the next instant.

Nothing happened.

Kicking off blood from the pool around Omega's body, Atlas let herself sigh in relief.

"Did... did you kill him?" Grey asked meekly.

Atlas surveyed the body from a distance, then turned to face the two behind her.

"I didn't have a choice. If... if it wasn't him, it would've been us."

Aile looked like she was about to object, then looked back at the two grooves on Grey's chest. Then she watched Atlas, who was breathing heavily, her own chest in about the same condition.

"Well... we're going to have a hell of a time explaining this," Aile frowned.

Atlas looked at her favourite combat knife, now dull and chipped from slicing past the beast's ribs.

"That was a helluva lot harder than I thought it'd be. Just look at my knife! We should've listened to Thetis..." Atlas sighed.

Aile nodded in agreement. Atlas turned, intending to pick up the body. Hey, someone was going to have to bring it back, and she didn't think any of the others would be able to handle it at the moment.

She was only a few paces away when the bloody white pile of fur suddenly twisted itself upright. It growled, crouching, as if it was going to pounce.

Atlas stiffened, shocked, before reverting to a combat pose. Grey gasped in the background.

However, something was different this time. The red orbs almost seemed to be studying the group, instead of mindlessly picking off a victim. With a flick of his tail, the still bleeding Omega turned and ran, disappearing in the bushes.

Grey's voice quavered, "Did... didn't you kill him?"

Atlas watched Omega leave, then moved her vision to the crimson-soaked combat knife still in her white-knuckled grip.

"I got his heart..."

X X X

Omega ran, his breathing ragged and his vision fuzzy.

"Damnit..." he uttered.

He headed for the sound of a river, desperately needing to clean himself of the sickening feeling of near-death. A good shock of cold water, that's what he needed.

He ignored his cat-like body, simply running as fast as he could with all four limbs. However, when he finally saw the river, he saw Vent, megamerged and trying to catch up with Thetis.

"Oi, hold up!"

"Come on slowpoke!"

In clear sight of the pair, all it would take for him to be spotted was for him to brake and turn, causing enough of a ruckus to get the others to look his was. Instead he sped up into a blur, despite his aching body, and jumped across the river, using Vent as a stepping stone to get across.

The mega man went under, sputtering. Omega paid no heed, continuing to run ahead.

After Atlas had stabbed him, the forced recovery period afterward had knocked his sense back into him. Thank heavens it was only a thin knife, and not a ripping javelin like Oceatar's nose, or if would have taken much longer to heal. Even so, an injury to _either_ of his hearts wasn't something to take lightly. He still had a murmur in hist heart where blood was leaking, and if he didn't find somewhere to stop and rest soon, the wound could re-open further.

Ahead was another wall, but it was much higher than the idealized, decorative walls in the garden. It was an actual wall, the one that boxed in the garden and had kept him contained a a beast.

This time around, Omega could deal with it.

Using his incredible momentum, he jumped into a tree ahead of him, then onto the wall, and ran up it a few feet before his speed gave out. At that point he dug his claws in, scaling the smooth surface easily. He continued on for some way, avoiding windows and highlighted areas, sticking in the shadow cast by the Legion building. He finally reached the roof, high above the surrounding city and the views of anyone trying to find him from the ground. He stretched out in a patch of sunlight, finally relaxing.

His head was on its side, his saber teeth forcing him to put it on a different angle. He pawed the teeth curiously. It was certainly a new sensation having those whopping great things in his mouth.

Blood from an unknown source coated the tips. He slid some of the blood between two of his claws.

Curious, he tried absorbing the DNA of the blood.

_DNA information Acquired. EX Skill "Homing shot" obtained. EX Skill Homing shot allows lock-on and damage of up to eight different targets._

Omega snorted, making a mental note to try it out later. Whose DNA did he get though? Oh wait, maybe he got it from that little gray-haired shit. He did have a couple big slices outta his chest. Did he do that?

Meh. Omega yawned, stretching out in the sun. He was exhausted, and felt relatively safe up on the gusty roof. Besides, the patch of sun he was in was so _warm_...

Omega's eyes drooped, _Ke ke ke, that's what you got for getting me infected with... whatever this is._

Omega fell asleep.

X X X X X

The transport sequence ended. Cracking his neck, Prometheus looked disdainfully at the expressionless face of Seraph beside him. Pandora had a slight frown on her features.

"Hmph. You'd better keep your word about keeping this quiet. The Masters weren't too happy when they found out that you'd been eavesdropping..." he warned, swinging his new scythe experimentally.

"Hmph. Not a living soul will know about this expedition except us and the Masters," Copy X replied off-hand. He idly wondered whether or not cyber-elves would be considered living by Legion.

"Tch. We... don't need you here. We are... perfectly capable of handling ourselves," Pandora frowned.

Seraph smiled, "Of course, of course, I'm sure you are. I'm just curious though, that's all."

"Yeah, well, don't expect us to cover your ass if you get it stuck in the fire."

"Of course."

Prometheus growled, glaring at the ambassador of Neo Arcadia as he walked forwards. Seraph put his hand on his hip, smiling smugly as he gestured towards the devastated landscape in front of them.

"Onward, then, to the crash site of Ouroboros!"


	24. Netherworld sealed, dead demon's secret?

Sorry for the long wait, guys! Here you go, the next chapter!

Omega: "about bloody time, too!"

SubZeroChimera: "Ah, sharrup!"

* * *

"Alright, this is really starting to piss me off," Atlas growled.

The trio of mega men were pacing around the statue in the center of the Legion garden. Birds tweeted nervously and a gentle breeze blew as the afternoon sun slowly crawled towards the horizon. Siarnaq twitched at every shadow that moved, and Vent scuffed his feet guiltily against the uneven stone path, still dripping wet from his adventure in the river earlier.

He turned to the irate woman, "Hey, hey, calm down. We're not getting anywhere working ourselves up like this."

"AFFIRMATIVE." agreed Siarnaq.

Atlas frowned at her comrades, "Tch, you weren't there when he had Grey. I'm not worked up, I'm being _cautious_."

"For someone as temperamental as you, it's the same thing," piped Ashe.

Vent smirked as his sister, Aile, appeared from behind a large fern. She smiled at the fuming Atlas, then turned to the other two, "Any sign of him yet?" she asked.

"NEGATIVE."

"I'm worried. With him on the loose like this..." Vent shook his head, letting the sentence hang.

"No need to worry. I just checked in on Grey," Aile started, "he's taking a nap to recover, but otherwise he's fine. As for the mercenary, Mikhail did some calculations. Judging by how fast he's going through the stages, he should be out of feral mode right now. He'll probably go hide somewhere to recuperate, since Atlas really did a number on him. He can't escape Legion unnoticed, so he'll come back to us one way or another. We can keep looking for now, but he probably won't be found until he wants to be."

Vent sighed, but nodded in agreement. Atlas grimaced.

"That's all very well and fine to say, Aile, but you saw how much blood he lost. I _know_ I hit his heart. Chances are he's dead in a ditch somewhere."

Aile scowled back, "And I _also_ saw how he got back up and ran off despite you so say 'getting his heart'. Sorry, Atlas, but the evidence is against you in this one."

"Yeah, yeah, maybe I missed and got an artery instead, so what? He still bled like crazy! He may have survived the hit and ran off to recuperate, but ended up just finding a hole to die in. Almost a shame, he was a good fighter..."

As the two girls continued to argue, Vent simply shook his head, "I don't know about you," he said to Siarnaq, "but I have a feeling that it won't be as easy as him just dying somewhere. He's done some pretty unexplainable things in the past. I think he'll pull through whether we want him to or not."

"AFFIRMATIVE."

X X X X X

Omega scampered carefully up the wall of Legion, having overheard the conversation on his way down.

"Well, not going down that way..." he muttered to himself.

The white tiger alighted on the top of the wall separating the garden from the rest of Legion, his tail swishing impatiently.

The four down there were right about one thing. Judging by the sheer vastness of Legion, he wouldn't be going anywhere without at least being seen, or worse, caught again. Sooner or later, he'd have to return.

His fangs were slowly shortening to a more manageable length, although enough remained to stick out like twin daggers. Their placement was still quite foreign, and he kept licking them in annoyance. His mane was also becoming less noticeable and the fur that had sprouted along his entire body faded with it.

It was still going to be a few hours before it was completely gone, though. His ears tilted as he considered his possible courses of action.

He could keep hiding, but that would be cowardly. Not to mention that, if the searchers got serious, he'd be in for a lot of trouble when he was finally found.

Maybe escaping Legion would... no, there's no way he could get out without being spotted. Stealth wasn't his specialty. Quite the opposite, if anything.

He could turn himself in... wait, where had that thought come from? No way!

Thinking back on it, sneaking out of Legion wasn't too bad of a plan. No one really noticed him when he was playing inconspicuous... oh wait. They _might_ notice the tail and ears. Not to mention his lack of ID would effectively remove all of his chances of getting through the gates. So what about the walls?

No, not that either... even if he got over them, there was nothing but desert on the other side. He had no qualms about wandering about the desert, but unless he hurried out of sight, he'd be spotted right off the bat. Kind of hard to hide in a flat wasteland.

As he was pondering, a small mechaniloid managed to sneak up on him. By the time he noticed that something was there, it had already scooted. He let it go, thinking it was just a stupid bird or something.

However, as it landed on its master's outstretched arm, the hawk mechaniloid sent the information of Omega's location to the PDA that Aeolus held.

"Good bird. Now, go tell Siarnaq, I'm not taking him on alone."

X X X

Omega was suddenly snapped out of his reverie when the wind mega man flew up beside him. He snarled. Aeolus landed stiffly, pointing some sort of long, thin staff at him as he did. It had an odd type of apparatus at the tip, and Omega wasn't interested in finding out what that thing did.

His decision may have been made for him...

As far as Aeolus was concerned, he wasn't too fond of the idea of getting close either. Omega's appearance had only barely started reverting to his original state. The white tiger was still covered in silver fur, and only the chest, forearms and thighs had shed enough fur to allow his black skin to become visible.

Aeolus' hawk returned, screeching at Omega. He arched his back, hissing in response. While Omega was distracted, Aeolus tried to inch closer, but Omega noticed it. He bared his brutal fangs. Even for a mega man, having teeth that big facing your general direction wasn't a pleasant experience. Aeolus backed off.

Omega suddenly jumped, yowling. Aeolus took to the air reflexively.

It turned out that the action was unnecessary. Omega had landed poorly, and was now struggling to stay on the top of the wall.

The red reploid snarled, tearing out the new dart embedded in his upper thigh. He suddenly felt sluggish as he tried, and failed, to climb back onto the higher ground. With a grunt he dropped, smacking painfully into the ground several stories below.

"Oi, Aeolus, what are you, chicken? One cat jumps at you and you fly the coop!" Atlas joked roguishly.

Aeolus made a rather off-colour reply, causing her to laugh.

The rest of the mega men caught up with Aile, who lowered the tranquilizer gun held lightly in her grip, "Well, that was a nasty fall. Who wants to go first?" she indicated towards Omega's landing site, not being the one to have to get there first. After a fall like that, she had no doubt he'd be pretty irritated.

Not to mention that getting hit in the butt with a tranquilizer would make pretty much_ anyone_ cranky.

Vent had already run well ahead of her. She sighed and followed suite as Siarnaq dashed noiselessly alongside her brother.

Atlas jogged along with her, "Nice shot, by the way," she complimented, "although I must ask why that area in particular. Then again, it's kinda hard not to stare there, it's such a nicely shaped-"

"Atlas!" Aile blushed profusely, staring at the fiery mega man guffawing beside her.

"Ahahaha! Knew that'd getch'ya," she smiled. Aile couldn't help but giggle. Atlas wasn't the most eloquent person, but her brutal honesty did have its own charm at times.

"I had bad aim, that's all. _You_ were the one staring," Aile retorted cheekily.

Atlas choked, glaring at Aile and her comeback. "Let's go catch up already," she snapped. She ran on ahead, leaving Aile laughing behind her.

By the time she caught up, Aile was gasping for breath. Omega was in a corner, hissing viciously from behind a concealing fern. A small crater nearby, filled with fur and crushed leaves, showed where he had rather unceremoniously landed. The other mega men stood at a respectable distance, cutting off Omega's escape from the moss-covered alcove by Legion's grayish white walls. A tree nearby had its bedraggled leaves spread in a umbrella-like canopy overhead, shading the majority of the small section of moist jungle. Smaller ferns and other plants provided plenty of cover for Omega, and because they couldn't see him, none of the others were too enthusiastic about getting close.

"Alright, we know you're there, come out already!" yelled Aeolus.

Although he hated to admit it, they had him beaten this time. Even though none of the mega men knew his exact location, they had shut off any escape routes from the general area. If he wanted out he'd have to go through them. Unfortunately, thanks to the dart, he was having enough of a problem seeing straight, much less walking. Nonetheless, he tried to sneak forward. Alas, that only gave away his position as he started leaning immediately. Overcompensating for the movement, he crashed into the nearby fern.

"SUBJECT LOCATED."

Siarnaq jumped forwards with one of the odd spears. It was jabbed under the fern, the tip hitting Omega's side. Omega snarled, grabbing the spear and attempting to whack Siarnaq with it, but the mega man was too quick. Releasing the object and jumping backwards, he managed to avoid the swinging stick. However, he was unable to avoid it when Omega irately threw it at his head.

He fell backwards with a startled_ thunk_ as the object hit him squarely between the eyes. The others ran forwards to cover the poleaxed Model P user.

"Ouch, that looked like it hurt. You okay Siarnaq?" asked Vent.

The shadow mega man sat up unsteadily, "SYSTEMS... SYSTEMS FUNCT... URRRRGHK."

"Wait, did he actually say something that sounded human? Oh dear lord call a doctor, he's gonna die!" Atlas laughed.

Siarnaq gave her a smart rap on the kneecaps with the spear in response as he got up, leaving her the one sitting down and cursing.

Omega was also cursing. The dizziness had gotten worse. Apparently, the things on the end of the spears that the mega men were carrying were tranquilizer devices. He's just gotten another dose and could barely stay up.

Deciding that he's rather be somewhat conscious then completely conked out when Legion got him, he decided to call it a day.

"Alright... alright! I give. I'm coming out."

He wobbled out, standing on all fours. The fur loss had started to affect his face and belly now. He tried to stand up, the result rather shaky.

"Aw shit, he's going to the next stage already?" groaned Atlas.

"Stages? This bloody disease... or whatever it is... has stages?" he growled.

Aile tutted, "Yeah, I guess you weren't around when the first outbreak occurred, were you? We'll explain on the way back."

She made a sudden movement towards him, reaching forward to support him. His instinctively raised his hackles and hissed, backing up.

"Oh, not quite out of feral yet," she frowned.

Taking a no-nonsense approach, she surged forward and grabbed him anyways, "Yes, this disease has stages. The first is the onset stage, where you start to act cat-like. The next is the first neko stage, where you look like a cat. Then there's fear stage, then feral, followed by the contagious stage, another neko and the recovery..."

He growled and spat as she tried to drag him out of the woody area. As far as she was concerned, now that he'd given up, it was best to get him inside as soon as possible. She hoped that acting like the whole incident was nothing would help, but it didn't. Omega was still too jumpy, and decided to wrench away from her unexpectedly. Attempting to run away, he didn't notice the uneven ground until he was stumbling over it. Nor did he notice the tree.

_Wham_!

Atlas howled with mirth. Omega struggled vainly, his tail swishing in _extreme_ irritation.

Aile shook her head. Well, at least with his head stuck in a tree he wouldn't try running away again...

X X X

By the time she and the others had worked him out of the natural headlock, the tranquilizers were working fully. Omega, his mind foggy, meekly let them carry him to the Master's chamber, where he met Mikhail for the first time.

His first impression was of a kindly old man, blunt but honest. He came to the conclusion rather quickly when the Master took one look at him, swore in front of an audience, and redirected the mega men to take him to a room somewhere. He was right on the verge of some sort of "contagious stage damnit, we'll have to reschedule the examination for later. We can't have all of our poor doctors get sick with it too."

Whatever that meant.

He was shoved into some clothes and rather swiftly deposited in a room which, unbeknownst to him, wasn't too far off from where the other elemental mega men were. The door was shut and locked, but at least the window was open...

As he glanced around, his head finally started to clear. He shook it several times trying to get it to clear faster, but it didn't work. He growled. How annoying!

Omega looked around his new prison. The room was comfortable and fairly spacious, the walls white and clean. An adequately sized bed dominated the center, gray and bland. Beside it was a small end table and a trash can. To his side, a small bathroom stood with the door half-open. The whole thing was bright but extremely plain.

A note was folded on the end of the bed. He picked it up, reading.

"To the nameless mercenary; we of Legion regret to inform you that while you are infected with the disease known as the neko virus, we are required to maintain a protective custody of you. This will last several weeks at least, longer if necessary, past the end of the recovery period to ensure that you are no longer contagious. In the meantime, a room has been provided for your comfort, and if you wish, your personal effects may be brought from your home. The requested items will be searched and returned to you as soon as possible, or as allowed by your ruling administrator.

We thank you for your patience. Welcome to Legion."

On the bottom of the typed note, a small message was hastily scrawled, "Welcome to Legion! I'm Mikhail, and I'll be your administrator while you recover. Sorry about having to lock you up, but the neko virus hasn't been around for a while, so we want to make sure that this isn't some new strain. While you're here, we'll have to do a quick medical examination or two. Don't worry, it's just a scan or a few small tests, nothing invasive. While we're doing that, we might as well get you set up with a Legion ID. Your lack of ID is somewhat noticeable, not to mention the complete lack of any records.

We'll be expecting a history from you. Sorry, but that's how it goes. Now, I won't see you too often, I've got too much stuff to do being one of the Sage Trinity and all. We'll try not to keep you here longer than necessary. Sincerely, Mikhail."

Omega snorted. Well, wasn't this going well. Something seemed a little too convenient for them, with him catching the virus and all, but he couldn't really argue that. The Legion was the government, right? In government, what they say goes, no matter what evidence he had against them. The Sage Trinity... weren't they the big-wigs of the whole lot? Well, that was just great. The highest level of government had pretty much just told him "We're watching you", so it's not like he could just run off like he wanted any more.

He shuffled, unsettled. The net was closing in around him, and right now there wasn't much he could do about it.

Out of the corner of his eye, Omega noticed a little object floating just outside the window. It was the Model A biometal. He considered it for a moment, watching as it entered.

"Hey there! You probably can't hear me, but guess what! We're neighbors now, so there are gonna be some rules! First off-!" it started menacingly.

Omega snatched it in his teeth before it could finish. With a quick electric shock he stunned the protesting biometal. A flick of his wrist swatted it away. Silly little thing. He sat down as it bounced back towards him.

He hit it away again.

It bounced back again.

The whole situation suddenly became a game, with him swatting the poor biometal around the room. It started to recover from the stunning, only for Omega to stun it again. He gnawed it a bit, finding the pressure on his over-large teeth oddly pain-relieving. He hadn't even realized when his teeth had started to hurt.

Tail flicking, he removed it from his mouth after careful consideration. Who knew where it had been, after all.

He turned it over and over in his claws, studying his prey. He covered it with his paws, hiding it, then uncovered it to make sure it was still there. The process repeated several times. Without even realizing it, he started to absorb the DNA.

_Model A DNA obtained. No EX Skill data available. Scanning DNA for further data._

_Potential system update available. New program sequence available. Install program sequence, "EX Combo"?_

EX... Combo? Eh, whatever. Omega set the data to download, then released the quivering biometal.

"Oi... oi! You jerk! What the heck did you do-!"

Omega crouched, ready to pounce. He eyed the biometal curiously, kneading his paws and waving his tail excitedly.

"Whoa whoa whoa, we're not going through_ that _again! I'm outta here!" The biometal shouted, flying out through the window.

Disappointed, Omega watched the thing leave. He disdainfully yawned, then began checking his fur for cleanliness as if he'd intended for the biometal to get away all along.

_Yeesh, still a lot of the cat left in me_, he thought. Ah well, nothing he could do about it. His inspection of his fur was completed (nothing was wrong with it, all was clean, hunky-dory, etc). Yawning, the neko'ed reploid considered the bed, but thought better of it. Curling up in a patch of sunlight on the floor, the God of Destruction decided to have a cat nap. And he did just that.

X X X

Model A shot out the window, booking it as fast as a little floating rock could go. He re-entered the Legion building, shaking himself off.

The absolute _nerve_ of that guy! Treating him like a chew toy!

Model A was so deep into its own thoughts that it didn't notice the glare it was getting from a motherly mega man nearby.

"So _there_ you are!"

Model A gulped as he saw Aile. However, he absolutely shuddered when Ashe stepped out from behind the model ZX mega man, "You! You little jerk! What was the meaning of that? You went into the mercenary's room, didn't you?"

Uh oh, busted. He puffed himself up indignantly, "I was just checking up on him! Geeze!"

"Just checking up on him! That's bull and you know it! I told you to stay away from him."

"Ah-aaah you won't shut up, will you? I was just going to play with him a bit since he was weak and all..."

Ashe's eyes popped open, "Uh, model A, are you okay?"

Realizing that his "ah-aah" had sounded a lot like a "nyaa", Model A decided to expand on what he thought Ashe might be suspecting, "Oh, yeah, come one, just a little game of cat-and-mouse. Meow, you know. Just to pay him back for earlier, nyaa."

"Oh goddamnit Model A, please do _not_ tell me you've gotten infected!" She gawked, aghast.

Model A cocked his head (or rather, his entire body) to the side curiously. He didn't say anything, instead enjoying the looks of sheer "oh $#%&" the two women were giving him. Then he couldn't take it anymore.

"Bwaahahaahaahaahahaa! Oh my gosh, the looks on your faces right now! Ahahahahaha!"

Suddenly understanding the prank, the two looked at each other in confusion, then glowered murderously.

"Oh hey guys, bwahaha, come one, you gotta admit, that was pretty funny- uh, guys? Guys? Come on, it was just a joke, don't look at me like that... ulp!"

Elsewhere in Legion, Model Z barely looked up as Model A's screech echoed through the halls.

"He's done it again, hasn't he?" sighed Model H.

X X X X X

Pandora, Prometheus and Seraph were not off to a good start. Even after having located the miniscule crack in the desecrated mass grave of the Ouroboros, they realized that there was no way into it. Their only hint on how to get there was from a map detailing a nearby cave. With nowhere else to go, they set out for it.

The cave, it turned out, led to the infamous Area M, the site of the first Model W found by the Model ZX mega men. As they navigated the toxic-looking wastelands, they noticed numerous piles of desolate scraps, the only remains of mechaniloids destroyed by the mega men. Navigating the area was tricky and somewhat dangerous, but the abandonment of the area by any other mechaniloids made it a lot easier. Murky water lapped at their feet or dripped eerily in the distance as they explored the underground labyrinth.

The area was dead and deserted. Spikes were rusted from age and wires hung uselessly from the ceiling like rotted vines. The walls, which had previously glowed with the Model W's power, were gray and lifeless.

"An awfully cheery place, isn't it?" Seraph remarked sarcastically.

Pandora remained silent while her brother snapped back, "Oi, no one told you to come. _You_ were the one who insisted that you come along to 'investigate'."

"It's very important that I follow all possible leads."

"Just what are you investigating, anyways?" Pandora asked slyly.

Seraph, preoccupied with avoiding another spike-filled pit, replied automatically, "It's an affair of the cyberspace police, it's not a concern for civilians."

"Cyberspace?"

Seraph jerked his gaze to them, realizing that he's let something slip. He frowned, then sighed, "Forget it. I'm not going to explain that."

After seeing the expression on the man's face, Prometheus let the question go. He wouldn't be getting anything out of him soon.

They had reached the end of Area M. Prometheus growled, "Well geeze, look at this; it's the transporter. Looks like this lead was a dead end, buddy."

He kicked the transporter lightly in frustration. However, Pandora was a little more observant, having been here before.

"Hmm? Look over there," she pointed at a large pile of boulders stacked against the opposite wall. "I don't remember seeing that there last time. They're a little out of place, too."

Indeed they were. While the natural colour of the rock was a plain, sandy gray, the boulders in question were anything but. They almost glowed a dark greenish-blue, and appeared to sparkle slightly as if they were made of a translucent glass.

"Yeah, _definitely _something up with those," noted Prometheus. Pandora stared at the pile of boulders blocking the wall, thinking.

"Something's nagging me... ah! I remember! I think there was a door in that wall last time I checked. I didn't have time to investigate earlier though, since we had to go attack that residential district. Now that I think back on it, it was really nagging me for a while after."

Seraph had already begun to take a closer look at the rocks, "They're partially data based. We're on to something here."

He began glowing a bright white, and an instant later, he was chucking the boulders out of the way with ease. The sibling's brows raised. Appearance wise, he now looked similar to Model X, but with numerous wing-like projections covering his body.

"You aren't a mega man, are you?" inquired Prometheus.

"No I'm not. Are you going to stand there staring or help me out?"

They stepped up to help, and the last of the boulders was soon removed. Behind them was a door, pristine and unearthly.

"Yes! I _knew_ there was a door!" Pandora crowed happily.

Without further ado, it was opened. As they walked inside, they noticed a drastic difference from their former surroundings.

They were in a series of long halls, connected together by a vertical shaft. The halls were on top of each other, and were long and narrow. The walls, unlike in Area M, glowed with a lively and bizarre aura in contrast to the deathly atmosphere of Area M, not the evil of Model W, but certainly not natural either.

As they entered, a mechaniloid attacked. It was quickly dispatched by an expert slash from Prometheus.

"Looks like we hit the jackpot here," he exclaimed.

The trio walked down the hall, then stared down the shaft. Pandora spoke up, "I suppose we should start at the bottom first... Uhm, there's enough room on my staff for only two people though. We'll have to make several trips-"

Seraph jumped into the air, smirking, "Or I could just fly down with you. What, did you think these were for show?" he said, indicating his wings.

"Let's get this over with," Prometheus interrupted.

They dropped down to the bottom floor. On their way down, they passed a ledge occupied by a mechaniloid. After destroying it, they noticed a small data disk that it had been guarding.

The female mega man reached for the object, "Here, I'll take that. I always bring a disk reader with me. It'll take a minute to get it working, though, let's keep going."

As she fiddled with her disk reader, the other two landed at the bottom of the shaft. They followed the short hall to its end. Three doors lined the walls, but any attempts to open them proved futile.

Prometheus humphed, "Rats."

"Ahah, got it! Oh darn, the data's damaged..." Pandora cried out. The others came to see what she had.

"There's not much here I'm afraid," she told them, "there was an image at some point, but the disk is old and too worn out. The data file isn't much better... All it says it, 'This mysterious reploid... ancient ruins... destroyed... warrior. Hmm, odd. Well, the file name is intact, at least. Although... what the heck does 'Omega' mean? Isn't that the symbol for bad luck?"

At the mention of "Omega", Seraph had stiffened and paled visibly.

"Oi, what's up with you?" Prometheus frowned.

He answered with a solemn stare, "I was hoping not to have to tell you anything, but it appears that the situation has changed."

He turned to them, his arms crossed, "You asked about cyberspace earlier. Well, I'm actually a member of something called the cyberspace police force. We're a group that tries to keep the peace in cyberspace, as well as this world as well."

Prometheus regarded him suspiciously, "Cyberspace... police force? So, does cyberspace actually exist or something? I thought it was just the reploid version of heaven; no evidence that it's real, but people believe in it anyways."

"Well, it's real all right. Don't tell anyone though, the last thing we need are a bunch of idiots running around doing something stupid. Anyways, I'm investigating an anomaly we in cyberspace call 'the Netherworld'. We're not exactly sure what or where it is, but it has started acting up again, so we need to find out more about it before it causes any harm. Omega..." he paused, "Omega is a reploid we have connected to this netherworld. I just never thought that I'd get a lead this powerful so quickly..." he dashed back along the hall, turning to them, "Hurry up, please. We need to investigate the last hallway that we spotted. I'll go ahead." He flew out of sight.

The siblings took a moment to look at each other, absorbing the information. Shrugging, they followed him after mounting Pandora's staff.

When they caught up to him, he was standing stock still, staring.

Prometheus jumped off the staff, running to catch up, "Hey, what're you staring... whoa..."

Just as he and Pandora reached the angel reploid, they noticed the exact same thing that he had. The walls and floor of Area N disintegrated into nothingness, small fragments of ground floating and melding with the area that came next.

And that area simply defied description

As well as some of the more noticeable laws of physics.

"Is... is this the Netherworld that you were talking about?" Prometheus commented meekly, his voice muted with awe.

Seraph snapped out of his reverie, turning to the reaper reploid, "Yes... I think... that that's _exactly_ what this is. Never..._ never_ did I expect to find it so quickly..."

He stepped forwards, "This realm... it's unstable. We must proceed with caution. You two," he looked at them, "I have a feeling that the data disk was a warning. The reploid in question on that disk is _extremely_ dangerous. If we come across him, please, run."

Taken aback by his seriousness, they could only nod.

Still, they gulped down their nervousness and pressed on. After defeating a few minor mechaniloids, the siblings remounted the staff to navigate around some of the more pointy obstacles in their way. Taking note of the disappearing blocks, Pandora was careful where she flew, as was Seraph. When they came to the great sea of spines, however, Prometheus couldn't help but shudder.

"I don't care _how_ dangerous of a reploid that guy was, I don't think even _he_ would have bothered with _that_ nasty lot."

As they flew over it, the group was so preoccupied with avoiding more of the disappearing platforms that they failed to notice the crumbled remains of boulders hidden among the dangerous spires...

They reached the other side safely, dismounting and/or landing in the small alcove on the other side. A single door stood ominously at the end, leading into a chamber of unknown size.

However, judging by the fact that the other parts of the area expanded into eternity, it was anyone's guess as to what was on the other side.

"Here we go..."

They opened the door.

Inside the chamber... was nothing.

As large as a sports field, a ragged roof loomed far overhead. The walls to their left and right were non-existent, dropping off into the abyss, but a wall was present straight ahead. They entered slowly, surveying their surroundings. They reached the other wall.

"I guess we got ourselves worked up for nothing, eh?" Prometheus giggled nervously.

The group went back. Seraph was still stunned by the vastness of their surroundings, and so didn't notice the data collecting behind them when they were halfway back.

"W-w-w-ware wa-a messia-ia n-n-nari!"

The data attacked!

"Scatter!"

The group split up. The program in the middle stopped, unsure of who to attack first.

As the trio regained their composure, they were able to see what had attacked them. It was a ghostly apparition which physically sputtered even as it stood still. The thing was partially immaterial, its face indistinguishable and vacant. Small streams of data could be seen through its translucent skin and dark red armor. Dirty-white locks of hair appeared down its back, some seemingly suspended in midair as other sections of it disappeared and reappeared randomly. With a hollow howl, it dashed at Prometheus.

Taken off guard by the figure's sheer speed, Prometheus was hit heavily in the chest as the apparition barreled past him. It turned, striking him down with a saber strike, then stopped again as it fizzled.

"Brother!" screamed Pandora, instinctively running towards the two to protect her brother.

"Omega! How dare you!" roared Seraph. He was about to rush in as well when the very air itself blinked and changed. He was forced to stop suddenly as an odd machine appeared, then dissolved, then glimmered into existence again before his very eyes.

With Prometheus out of commission and Seraph temporarily disoriented from the scenery change, there was nothing between the malicious program and the defenseless white witch. He stopped flickering for one short, clear moment as he locked onto his victim.

Omega's face creased in a vicious snarl of pure fury and malice.

His red eyed glowed.

And somehow, it all looked familiar.

She let out a scream, ducking to the side as he lunged, howling with triumph.

Her dodge failed. While she managed to avoid the deadly violet zephyr aimed at her, a quick punch from his other hand winded her. She fell to the floor. The moment she hit it, the false Omega was on her waist, pinning her. One hand went to her neck, choking her with its intense grip, and the other raised the sword. A vicious grin covered his immaterial face.

_This is it_, she thought,_ this is where it all ends._

_Prometheus, I'm sorry. Forgive me, brother._

In that one last, clear moment, she saw the program shift its grip on the sword, preparing to end her life.

The next moment, several tonnes of flying cyber-elf fury heartily tackled the red demon from the side.

Pandora gasped, scrambling off the ground as her attacker was sent flying, bouncing off the ground in shock and rolling to a stop. Shaking itself like a dog, the program screeched angrily at its assailant.

It was a costly action.

Several rings of light came from above, encircling the demon. They shrank instantly, binding him. Fizzling dangerously, the program snarled in rage at its opponent.

And what an opponent!

Seraph had pulled out all the stops. He levitated mid-air, six large wings spread wide. Huge, clawed gauntlets encased his forearms, and blue, white and gold lines etched out regal details across his light blue armour. A halo glowed majestically around his head, like a crown attached to his helmet by the red gem on his forehead.

Unlike his original seraph form, however, Copy X had modified his armour since then. The triangular apparatus that had replaced his legs originally was now split in two, guarding his thighs instead of eliminating them.

Seraph landed, staring down his dissipating opponent.

"This is the end for you, demon!" he commanded as he walked forwards. Encased in the glowing bonds, the demon could do nothing but shriek as Seraph grabbed him, slamming him into the wall, the tips of his claws burying themselves into the teal surface.

The red glow in the demon's eyes died. His immaterial face blank, Omega's glassy eyes stared back expressionlessly at Seraph as his body, slowly at first, began to convert to data. The data conversion became faster and faster until, seconds later, there was nothing but fragments of information floating in the air, scattering to the corners of the netherworld.

The golden rings dissipated as Seraph turned and looked at the data float away. He seemed confused.

"Yeah, we did it!" Prometheus shouted, right before breaking down into a fit of coughing. "Urk... still recovering. You okay sis?"

She smiled, "Yes, thanks to Seraph."

"It should not have been this easy."

"Huh?" Prometheus blinked. Seraph was staring into space, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Omega... was much stronger than that. A single attack should not have killed him so swiftly." Copy X stared at the scenery, which still flickered back and forth, "This place... I've seen this sort of thing before, but never so damaged. A memory... that's all this is. Is that all that was left of you, Omega?"

Prometheus glanced at him curiously, "A memory? How can that be? This place is physical!"

"Only in appearance... let me explain," began the blue reploid, engulfed in light as he returned to his more peaceful form, "This place is a barrier between the real world and cyberspace. In cyberspace, matter is decided not by matter or atoms, but by data. Therefore, the whole of cyberspace is in fact a memory of the real world, where the souls of deceased reploids, and the occasional human, spend their afterlife until they are reincarnated. This place is similar, it would seem. However, cut off from the rest of cyberspace, it seems that solely Omega's memories dictate the shape of this place. And, judging by the appearance of this place," Seraph explained, indicating the black orb in the sky, "Omega's data must have been heavily corrupted when he died."

"Who was Omega, though?" Pandora asked.

Seraph looked sadly at a small orb orb of data reforming itself where Omega had 'died'. "Omega was the reploid reputed as the God of Destruction. He destroyed many lives and crushed many hopes. It's best not to look into him too deeply, there's nothing there but murder and suffering. But, even for him, this is a sad fate, whether or not it is deserved."

"How so?"

"Because this whole place simply is a rip in reality, a ragged anomaly that shouldn't be," he replied, pointing at the orb. "Long ago, cyberspace and reality used to be very close. Cybernetic beings could literally walk from a door from one world into another. This was because the barrier between the two was thin and weak. Omega had the unique ability to tear that barrier, and his very presence threatened to merge the two together. It would have been catastrophic. When he died, though, the barrier he'd torn came back suddenly, and the two worlds were torn apart. The separation was so sudden that it created this place, the only real space where one can walk from one world to the other... theoretically. The moment that the two worlds were torn apart, the instant that this place came into existence... must have torn him apart, too."

The orb was slowly growing larger, glowing a dull, sickly red.

"What you see, that glowing orb, is nothing more than a fragmented recollection. It's his last memory, from the fight that occurred just before he died. A memory doomed to repeat itself in agony forever."

"What about his soul?" Pandora asked suddenly.

Seraph looked over, "his soul... I wish I knew. It may have been torn apart as well, destroyed. For all we know, that's the last remaining piece of it right there, trying to revive itself."

He shook his head sadly, then motioned the others to follow him. They left the room and the glowing orb behind. Soon after they reached the other side of the fatal expanse and were now near the hallway that led to the transporter.

On a whim, Pandora looked down, "Hey... that hallway with the locked rooms... do you think another part of him might be contained in those rooms?"

"Worth a shot, I suppose," Seraph answered.

Before Prometheus had a say in the matter, the two had jumped down. He sighed, joining them.

Two of the three doors were still stuck closed, but when the tried the one at the end of the hall, it opened without so much as a fuss. The three looked at each other, entering cautiously.

And stopped.

There, right smack dab in the middle of the room, was a biometal.

A biometal that heavily resembled the red demon.

"What the hell!" Prometheus exclaimed.

"A biometal!" Seraph grimaced.

However, as the groups' shock faded, they realized that something was horribly wrong with the piece of metal opposite them. While the sinister lines engraved on the walls glowed with eerie life, the object attached to them was as dark and dead as stone. The Model O was stiff, cold, and didn't float like the other biometals did. Seraph inched forwards, finally tapping the object with the tips of his fingers. It fell to the floor with a clatter.

"Is it safe?" Prometheus inquired meekly, still remembering the wounds on his chest.

"..."

Seraph picked up the object, his fingers encircling it. He closed his eyes, concentrating. Soon after, he opened them calmly.

"It's more than safe. Touch it if you like," he said, holding it out to them, "It's dead."

Pandora cocked her head curiously, "Dead?"

"Dead, or perhaps never even alive in the first place. I have no idea how it formed, maybe the proximity of the Model W had something to do with it. I suspect it was a physical remnant of Omega that mutated on its own. It contains no soul, though, so it won't work properly. Quite frankly, it's both harmless and useless. I checked the data in it; it can't even megamerge."

Prometheus took the initiative, handling the cold object gingerly. He held it out to Pandora, who touched it lightly.

With a sudden determination, Prometheus gripped the object fiercely. "Hey sis, I just had an idea!"

"I'm listening."

"If that weird red thing was that guy's soul, do you think that if we grabbed it, then it might work like the others and-

"_we could have our own biometal! But, still, you know our bodies won't work if that biometal has the Model W DNA code in it..." she sighed.

"Eh?" both Prometheus and Seraph looked at her questioningly.

"Oh, right, you didn't understand the explanation last time..." she frowned at Prometheus, then answered the questions on their faces, "Well, Seraph, to start, me and Prometheus used to be mega men too. However, we were built differently. Our original bodies needed the power of a biometal to survive. Unfortunately, we were also designed so that would die after a small period of time if we were not 'maintained' properly."

"Ah, yes, Albert, right?" he said.

The siblings looked at him, shocked. He smirked, "I know a little more about what's happened recently than the average person does. I work for cyberspace, remember? I don't know too much about the details though. Feel free to continue."

"Okay..." she looked at him suspiciously, but decided to let it go, "well, he had programmed our timers so that, as long as a certain DNA sequence was in our systems, the countdown on our timers would be activated."

"Our biometal was the Model W, the one with the specific DNA code, so we were pretty much screwed," added Prometheus.

"Anyways, since all biometals were based off of Model W, all of them have the DNA code in them to allow them to megamerge. Even if another biometal was inserted into our bodies, it would still have at least a part of the DNA code, and the timers would start ticking."

"Ah, now I get what they were trying to say," Prometheus replied. "I could never figure out how those timers did work."

Seraph stared at them. He seemed conflicted, but then smiled, "Well, normally I'd say that using the biometal of the God of Destruction would be a stupid idea, but after some consideration..."

He took the biometal from Prometheus, studying it, "If we can separate the memories and the soul, and insert the soul into the biometal, we might be able to solve your problem."

Their eyes widened simultaneously in confusion. Seraph continued smugly, "Well, after assessing the data in this, I've found that it's actually not a threat if used correctly. As long as we make sure that there are no memories, we'll be fine since it won't be aggressive. Also... did you know that this biometal doesn't have the DNA code that you mentioned? Having evolved on its own and all..." He smiled widely at the stunned looks on their faces.

Without warning, the pair had rocketed out of the room. They were looking up to see how to get back to the room with Omega's soul piece.

Seraph laughed, "We'd better get there before it reforms fully, or we'll have a hell of a time doing this. C'mon!"

He grabbed the two, changing into his seraph armour and flying the two out of the hall. They blasted up the shaft and across the spiky expanse into Omega's room. Dropping the pair rather unceremoniously onto the floor, he grabbed the small red orb glimmering faintly nearby.

"Alright, here I go! I'll remove the memories, just keep the biometal ready!"

They braced the biometal as Seraph reached towards the 'soul' in his hands. Manipulating the data, Seraph closed his eyes and focused. He removed the memories, blasting away the data. But, when he reopened his eyes...

There was nothing there but a DNA sequence.

"Is that his soul?" asked Prometheus.

"No, I'm afraid not. It would seem that he really was destroyed after all..." Seraph answered. The two looked crestfallen, but he continued, "However, it's still worth a shot."

He trotted towards them, then inserted the DNA into the biometal. After a painful few seconds of silence, the blue orb flickered lightly. The eyes began to glow a gentle white.

"DNA SEQUENCE ACCEPTED. ACTIVATING... ALL PROGRAMS ACTIVETED. M.E.G.A. SYSTEMS ONLINE. BIOMETAL DESIGNATION UNKNOWN. ENTER DESIGNATION."

The biometal began floating, weakly at first, out of the siblings palms. They looked at each other.

"The guy was called Omega, right? Why don't we call it Model O?"

"Works for me."

The biometal responded, "DESIGNATION MODEL O ACCEPTED."

It landed gently on the pair's hands, its glow receding, "ACTIVATING POWER SAVING MODE."

The glow faded to a faint flicker. Prometheus chuckled, "Heh heh, I guess it's gone to sleep. What an odd way of talking though."

"That's because it only has a DNA sequence. It's lacking any personality data or memories. They may or may not develop over time," explained the angel reploid.

Suddenly there was a deep rumble. The group jumped in surprise as the already unstable environment began to degrade even further.

"Huh? What's going on!"

Seraph scowled, "That DNA sequence may have been a defense mechanism. Like a security code, some areas of Cyberspace are designed to defend themselves, this place may be no different. We need to escape before it collapses or attacks us with something worse."

Grabbing the two again, he flew as fast as he could towards the exit. As they reached the final hall, he reverted to his civilian form and kicked open the door, leaving the siblings scrambling to regain their balance. They ran through the door, closing it as sparks and storms of data began to whirl in Area N. However, despite the loud rumbling coming from the area, all noise disappeared when they closed the door. Seraph blinked, waiting for something else to happen. The he tried to re-open the door.

There was nothing behind it but a rock wall, plain and sandy.

"Well, that's the end of that I guess," remarked Prometheus.

"It would appear that this door will no longer work. It's likely that the Netherworld has closed itself off. No one will be returning through this portal for a while, if ever. What a shame..." noted Copy X. He turned to the others, "Well, this was certainly an interesting experience. I hope you'll excuse me, but I'll be off to report these findings to the rest of cyberspace. Oh, and before I go..."

He pointed meaningfully at the pair, glaring, "If you tell _anyone_ about cyberspace being real, or about what I'm doing in this world, then I am afraid I will have to 'take you there' myself. I'll make sure that there won't be any evidence either, even if it means that I have to drag you kicking and screaming through a portal _alive_, bodies and all."

One slash of his hand later and a cyberspace door appeared. He gave them a meaningful, menacing glance before opening the door, entering it, and disappearing along with it.

The pair were silent. Then Prometheus spoke up, "Well, I don't know about you, but I don't think that I'll be saying anything about him anytime soon."

"The masters asked for a report on our findings though. What are we going to tell them?" Pandora pondered.

"We've got the whole return trip through Area M to figure that out," replied Prometheus, "so come on, let's get to it!"

X X X X X

When Pandora and Prometheus returned to Legion, it was to the sound of many sighs of relief and laughter.

When they inquired about it, they were told of Omega's little rampage. The two couldn't help but laugh at Atlas' rather comical re-telling of the story.

"So there I was, when the stupid bugger pounces Grey! He couldn't even get his priorities straight when it came to the most dangerous person there, so I had to go teach him. I smack the guy off Grey, who's screaming his head off at this point by the way. We had a good ole' brawl then, me and that flying furball, and dont'cha know, he hates shiny things! So I showed him my grand shiny knife, have to be fair and all. He hates operating tables too apparently, you should've seen him tearing outta that room yowling blue bloody murder when we showed him one. Anyways, as I was saying..."

"Can someone please get her to _shut up_?" pleaded Aeolus, "my ears can't take it any more, and neither can I!"

"Then you shouldn't wear them out boasting about yourself you great ninny!"

"You're one to talk, fool!"

"At least I don't say fool every other word!"

"Why you-!"

When the story was finished and Prometheus fit to burst at the antics, Pandora disappeared to find Mikhail. After she finished her much altered report on their findings, she asked him for a favor. He listened to her request knowingly, a mysterious little smile on his face.

"Yes, you may. We'll start work on the conversion immediately. By the way, his contagious stage should have worn off by now, feel free to go in."

She thanked him, gave him the biometal and ran off to get something. Mikhail chuckled to himself. He knew, more than she did, how Pandora was starting to feel about the mercenary. He's seen it happen many times before with the younger members of Legion's staff.

"Ah, to be young again," he reminisced.

X X X

Omega awoke somewhat as a knock sounded on his door. As the lock turned, he shifted enough to lazily eye whomever was entering his domain.

Pandora opened the door, noting that the red reploid had decided to sleep on the floor rather than the bed Legion had so nicely provided. She mentally rolled her eyes at him. Stubborn git.

"Hey, just checking to see how you are. Didn't fall out of bed, did you?"

He snorted disdainfully, "The sunlight was on the ground, not the bed."

"There's no sunlight now though. Why don't you get on the bed, it's less dirty."

That did the trick. Omega turned a distinctly baleful glare in the direction of the floor, then hopped quickly onto the bed. He checked his remaining fur for dirt. He stared at a patch for a bit, as if pondering whether or not to lick it off, but managed to stop the urge and simply dusted it off with his hand instead.

"There, that's better, isn't it?"

He lied down with his back to her, ignoring her. She received no more than a tail flick in response.

She smiled behind his back. Well, at least when he was affected by the neko virus, he was less likely to attack someone (barring feral mode). Something about a cat's pride made it less likely to attack something that irritated it, as if to show that the nuisance was worthless and not worth the bother.

She discreetly snuck up behind him. He finally realized that something was up when she sat down on the end of the bed.

"What do you want?" he grated at Pandora, his back to her.

She answered him by scratching behind his ear. He growled, his tail flicked again, but for some reason he actually relaxed.

"Oh you bitch, that is _not_ going to... why the hell does that feel so good anyways? Higher."

She did as she was told. She chuckled, irritating him further, but since a reaction would make him lose the temporary bliss from the ear-scratching, he didn't pursue the issue. Omega grunted noisily, resigning himself to the fact that this stupid virus was making him act weird and there wouldn't be a thing he could do about it until he was over it.

A small ball of yarn was dropped in front of his face. He lazily batted it.

"I do hope you know that I hate you right now and am _so_ going to make you pay for this later," he growled lightly.

"Of course."

They both fell silent. Omega continued hitting the ball of yarn, then began tearing it apart gently. The yarn was curled around his fingers in an impossible mess, but it was still fun trying to see if he could make a bigger mess.

"Oh, by the way, you're purring."

Omega stopped dead. Whoops. He _was_ purring, wasn't he?

"You tell anyone this and I'll kill you."

"Of course."

"Brutally."

"Of course."

He continued his game with the yarn. However, it had started to become boring. Seeing as White wasn't much of a threat, he yawned, curled up, and went to sleep.

Pandora slowly sat up when the purring stopped. She leaned over, looking at the blissfully sleeping face of the devil reploid. The white witch smiled. So, her experiment had worked. The last time her brother had gotten sick, she'd wanted to know a few things about what the virus did. Of course, Albert had locked him up faster than either of them could blink. Even _he_ didn't want the virus loose in his labs, after all.

But the purring was certainly more than she'd expected.

As she left the room, her mischievous expression grew dead serious. She looked back at the mercenary one last time. His ears twitched lightly as his chest rose and fell slowly, peacefully. His features were blank and almost emotionless except for the large fangs forcing his mouth into a grimace.

Then, because of heaven-knows-what, he snarled. His tail and ears thrashed and his hands clenched. For a single, clear moment, his expression changed.

Omega's face creased in a vicious snarl of pure fury and malice.

But this time, his eyes were shut.

Pandora shut the door, locking it quietly.

Now she knew why the face was so familiar...


	25. EX Combo

Neko-Omega: You know, for once, I don't hate you.

Subzerochimera: Oh, really? Why's that?

Neko-Omega: Well, you know...

Subzerochimera: It wouldn't have anything to do with me sharing my cat toys, now would it? *chomps a catnip mouse*

Neko-Omega: …*bats at a jingle-ball* ...Nope. Not at all.

**CH 25: Revenge! Or "A day off?"**

X X X X X X X X X X

Birds tweeted happily as the morning sun rose. Clad in soft blankets of clouds, the sun slowly rose grudgingly into the sky, hailed and awakened by the lives of those below it. A gentle breeze stirred, rustling the curtains in Omega's hanger. The familiar smell of dust seemed different, however, but the red demon paid no heed.

Omega rustled, clawing the pillows he rested on.

_Wait... hadn't he torched those_?

He awoke with a start, glancing around the room with worry. The room had shrunk? What? And he had a bed, and where was his ship-!

Wait... this wasn't his hangar.

Omega settled down as his foggy mind finally caught up to his frenetic body, calming its movements and allowing his memory to return, clarifying his confusion.

No, this wasn't his hangar... it was Legion.

The memories of yesterday's adventures came to him, and his tail swatted the air in annoyance. And then he hit the air with it again for good measure.

_I still have the darn tail?_ He thought, growling. His ears twitched, confirming that he still had those too. A lick of his chops at least gave him the satisfaction that he wasn't exactly the way he'd been last night. His fangs had shortened considerably, but still poked out from under his lips even when closed. Inspecting his claws, Omega didn't fail to notice that the blanket he lay on had some rips in it, presumably from his sleeping on it throughout the night. Despite his restful slumber, he must have been moving around a bit. But, oh well.

He got up, stretching while doing so. Further surveying of the room showed nothing more to explore in it, so he set his sights on the door and the world outside.

Upon reaching it, however, he found it locked. Unable to open it, he resolved that opening it by force really wouldn't sit well with his captors.

That didn't stop him from banging on it in frustration.

X X X X X

Thetis started from his impromptu nap when the surface he was leaning on began to vibrate with a resounding _bang_.

"Yikes!"

He shot up, giving the portal a disdainful look as it rumbled again. However, realizing what it meant, he gave the occupant a holler.

"Hey, morning in there, sleepy-head! Took you long enough to get up!"

Omega, on the other side, gave a snort and responded, "Yeah yeah, whatever. Just let me out! I'm bored!"

Thetis rolled his eyes. It seemed, obviously, that the neko virus still had a hold on the mercenary. He replied accordingly, "Hey, you still have a tail, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Sorry then, I can't do that. Master's orders."

Omega growled, "I don't care what the Masters say, I want out! Go get that Mikhail guy, or whatever his name is, if you have to! Just let me out!" he roared through the door, making Thetis jump. Tackling the barrier heartily to show his intentions, Omega snarled again.

However, the door was reinforced. Thetis didn't jump the second time, but gave the blank surface a level stare.

"I'd be a little more respectful of him if I were you, but, then again, if I were you, I wouldn't be in such a situation. Alright, I'll go see if I can get him, but it might take a while!"

Thetis walked away, taking his time while the irate God of Destruction gave the door a final whack for good measure. Getting no response, he turned away. With nothing better to do, Omega returned to gazing around his new home, pondering a course of action. The window proved the only interesting distraction, so he went to it. It was a simple, square affair, still open from yesterday. A breeze came in through it, ruffling the plain curtains bordering it. He tried to open it further, but found that it would not go out much more from what it already was.

Still, he managed to stick his head and shoulders through it, but more struggling left him with the realization that his hips couldn't fit through. Sighing with frustration, he looked down at the busy street far, far below from his imposing height. Noting to himself that it would be inconvenient to try and escape through there (he was pretty sure he'd be spotted on his way down), he sighed and resigned himself to just enjoying the view.

He heard a telltale sound to his right, and had to squirm uncomfortably to see that it was a megamerged Aeolus creating the noise.

The wind mega man, out for his version of a 'morning walk', had noticed the curious reploid long before he had noticed him. Making a beeline for the window, Aeolus had to stop and cling to the wall for a few moments after every few air-dashes to recharge his wings.

Omega noted this, wondering if the person who had designed the model H knew that, even with Harpuia's energy-efficient propulsion systems, it wouldn't be sufficient enough to completely compensate for the biometal user's own weight. While Harpuia could have flown continuously, it seemed that the model H mega man needed to take breaks.

As Aeolus neared the window, Omega frowned, growling at the intruder. He laid his ears flat.

The wind mega man noticed this. He stopped curiously, then laughed. Taunting Omega from just out of reach, he performed some fantastic aerial maneuvers and sped off.

Omega barked at him in anger, but couldn't do a darn thing in retaliation.

Feeling rather cocky from this success, Aeolus flew off. From Omega's viewpoint, he watched as the mega man flew speedily towards Siarnaq. The shadow mega man was also on his morning walk... although, you had to be good at it when your walk consisted of going along the miniscule ledges of an immense skyscraper.

Currently Siarnaq was hanging from a flagpole, keeping an eye on Omega. It seemed that Omega would have a literal and figurative shadow trailing him. He knew Phantom's history as a bodyguard, so him being a watchdog wasn't all that different.

Siarnaq just watched blankly as Aeolus came closer. He obviously wasn't expecting Aeolus to have a mischievous streak this morning, so it took both him and Omega by surprise when Aeolus twanged the flagpole, dislodging the poor mega man and dropping him right on the mercenary gawking beneath.

With his hips still stuck in the sill, he couldn't dodge as Siarnaq hit the window, snapping it shut tightly on him. Winded, his back and stomach now hurting, he could only watch as Siarnaq, limbs flailing wildly in the open air, scrambled to dig his grappling claws into the side of the building. With only an angry glint in his eyes, he jumped back up to pursue the guffawing Aeolus.

With a few gasps of air, Omega managed to regain his composure and wiggle his way back into the room. As he closed the glass opening, he couldn't help but smirk when the aerial megaman squawked and a few kunai clattered innocently back down to earth. One even chinked off his window.

As he continued to gaze out the window and nurse his belly, the door behind him opened. He looked. Thetis, megamerged, had just dropped a small box by the opening. His lance was held out to ward away any attempts Omega might have to try and get out.

"Hey there! Sorry, Mikhail's busy at the moment. He'll be along in an hour or two though, it's a slow day. Here's some of your stuff by the way. Some of our guys brought it from your hanger."

Omega eyed the box suspiciously, but it seemed to be in order. Atlas appeared behind Thetis just as the dueling pair outside fell by the window in a tangle of limbs.

"Are they at it again?" Thetis questioned, "I've never seen two guys more serious about fighting..."

Atlas hit Thetis lightly over the head, "Don't you see what they're doing? They're sparring! Duh! As mega men, it's important for us to keep our skills top-notch! They're being responsible!"

Thetis looked at her doubtfully, "But, don't we have arenas here for that? Why would they do it outside, and on a skyscraper for that matter?"

Atlas rolled her eyes, "All the arenas are flat. You can't keep up your skills for a battle if you fight in the same arena all the time! You need to be prepared for any environment!"

Thetis did a double take, realizing her wisdom, "Oh, I see! Wow, they're so cool! Hey, want to go spar? I'm not so sure about using the side of a building, but even flat, those arenas are sounding pretty good right now! Besides, I've never sparred before."

Atlas looked at him, aghast, "Well, geeze Thetis! We have to go change that, right now!" She proceeded to drag the youthful mega man from the room, waving a quick goodbye to Omega as she shut and locked his door on the way out.

Omega shook his head at their misjudgment of the situation. He looked back out the window, wondering whether or not to keep watching the pair. He wasn't too keen on getting the shadow mega man dropped on him again, though, so he settled for inspecting what items the other two mega men had brought him. As he rooted trough the contents, he noticed that it was pretty much all clothes and a few other odds and ends. The contents were thrown haphazardly into the box, as if there had been some sort of rushed inspection of them. Frowning, Omega had to fold his clothes back up before he could store them in a dresser. His bucket and comb, which he unburied after lifting out another shirt, were dropped into the bathroom for later use.

As he was taking out a pair of pants, which were crumpled into a ball, he noticed that there was something in the pocket. It was his wallet, still holding his money, the raider's card and his keys. He gave a sigh of relief: apparently, whomever had searched his items hadn't done a very good job of it.

Which was very lucky for him. The raider card was one thing, but... His sinister charm glinted ominously as he admired it, twirling it in the light. No one remembered what Omega stood for, but if anyone had mentioned the wayward object to Copy X...

The thought of the consequences made him grimace a bit. He removed the object from his keychain and looked around, spotting a bit of string left over from the ball Pandora had brought in earlier. Sticking it unceremoniously on the side-table by his bed, he quickly crafted a necklace for himself with the charm acting like a dog-tag. He hid it under his shirt and returned to arranging his new den.

There was no sign of Mikhail by that time. An hour had already passed, and with no sign of the master, Omega realized that it might take longer for the sage to appear than Thetis had claimed.

Also, he hadn't gotten his weapon back yet. He growled, of all the thing's they'd glanced over in his inspection, it seemed that his weapon wasn't one of them. Then again, there was still more in the box.

As Omega removed the last article of clothing from the box, his hopes to find his weapon were crushed. The only thing left was the book the old woman had given him.

He put away the clothes, muttering unintelligible threats under his breath. Legion was going to pay for this later.

Mikhail was still absent, though, which meant that he was going to have to wait even longer for his revenge. With nothing else he could think of doing, he stared at the book.

It was either the book, or another round of mediation. Meditation was nice, but curiosity won the round and he flopped onto the bed with the book.

It was interesting to say the least. Hand-written lyrics were combined with stylized pictures of multiple characters, all of whom, despite their ingenious camouflage, he identified.

At the end of it, he looked up at the ceiling and grinned.

"Ciel, you smart little bitch."

Tales of the Sky. Of all the things he'd seen while looking for himself in Legion's informational servers, all he'd found was mention of the book he held lightly in his grasp. History may have forgotten him, but someone hadn't.

"Poor thing, you. Despite your great attempt at preserving history, whatever wiped it out didn't entirely spare you, did it, resistance whore?" he grated at the book. Omega had never really cared about Ciel, but the fact that she'd sided with Zero really didn't help when it came to his dislike of her. On the last page of the ancient book, he noticed a small little sentence scratched onto the back cover.

_So shall thy Eternity fall and burn,_

_upon the day of the Demon's return._

He stared at it for a second, then laughed. "Eternity? Was that the Ouroboros! Hahaha, Ciel, whoever wrote this here was the only one who believed you! What a shame that no one else will!"

Omega was euphoric at the book. So humored was he that, in a fit of mischief, he used his neko claws to inscribe a reply to the mysterious quote. Of course, he wrote in in the oldest language he knew. If anyone ever saw his reply, they would understand it about as much as the rest of the book. It was hilarious to him, and he kept laughing.

"You're right, I'm back! And there's nothing you dead wretches can do about it! Hah hah hah hah haa!"

He was so preoccupied with this that he didn't notice Mikhail enter the room with a slightly ruffled looking Siarnaq at his side. The sage gave him a confused look.

"I don't remember that story being a comedy."

Omega snapped his mouth shut, caught off guard. The two walked towards him, Siarnaq acting sentinel. Mikhail held out his hand, "May I see that?"

It was handed over. After a quick inspection the old man's eyes shot right up, "Oh, this is the original? However did you get your hands on it?"

Omega shrugged, "Don't know, some old hag handed it to me. I'm done with it now, though."

"You won't mind me keeping it, then? It_ is_ an artifact, after all," replied the sage, who pocketed it without another moment to lose. Omega was put out of being cheated of his belonging, but made no visible protest. Model P hovered by his face, turning to Siarnaq.

"Siarnaq, we should be careful around him. He is hiding it, but he's feeling aggressive at the moment," warned the floating object.

Siarnaq nodded. Mikhail inquired, "Oh, did he say something?"

The shadow mega man motioned a yes as the biometal returned to its owner. Omega took note of the fact that only the mega man seemed able to understand the biometal, apart from from him. He wondered if it was like some sort of cyber-elf thing. Not all reploids had been able to understand cyber-elves back in the day, something about data codes. Maybe it was a similar thing here?

The other two finished a short conversation while Omega was pondering. Mikhail turned to him, "Well, anyways. Would you come with me? We need to get you set up with an ID."

Omega rose, suspicion riding on his features. Siarnaq hovered protectively by Mikhail, but shot Omega an unemotional stare that dared him to let him use force. Omega conceded. He'd rather not fight the mega man unarmed. He still kept his distance though, following the two as they trekked through the halls of Legion. They entered an elevator and went far down.

The first process of getting an ID, it seemed, was getting a picture. After that, there was more walking to the records department where he told them he was a desert hermit, and let the others attempt to explain the rest. And then there was even _more_ wandering around to another records room, going to the printing department, and so on...

And then there was the matter of a name. He dealt with it by simply telling them, "Whatever you want." Mihkail frowned, dissatisfied, so Omega ended up telling him the name given to him by the Gem Gang (against his better judgment, he thought silently). The master seemed confused by it, but since "Blood Diamond" was as much as the red demon was willing to give, it was accepted and that was that.

Legion was large, and it took the better part of the day to get it all done. Mikhail and Siarnaq watched him like a hawk the whole time. Omega was pretty sure that, as a master of Legion, the old coot should have more important things to do than watch one guy get an ID. Then again, if he was being put up that high on the old man's priority list, he was going to have to watch his footing very closely.

Despite the fact that he was deeply entrenched in his own thoughts, Omega couldn't help but notice that they were now just a few floors above ground level. Gazing around, he came to a startling conclusion when his eyes traced a series of long, sharp grooves in the floor.

He whirled, staring down Master Mikhail, "You! We're heading to the medical department, aren't we?"

Mikhail tensed, but replied, "Yes, we are. Like you were told yesterday, we need to see what the neko virus has done to your body. It doesn't need to be immediately, but the sooner the better if something's been affected."

Siarnaq had calmly megamerged during the explanation, stepping in front of the master protectively. Omega narrowed his eyes. His tail cracked the air aggressively. However, a sound behind him brought the attention of his ears, and he gave it a quick glance.

Vent and Aile, both megamerged in the ZX form, blocked any hopes of escape down the hall.

The sight of a familiar foe, the red reploid Zero, roused Omega's rage.

Omega snarled viciously, his eyes glowing red with anger. Hackles were raised and teeth bared at the Zero look-alikes. Aile was unnerved that he had shifted so quickly back into his snarling, feral mood. Omega shook his head suddenly, snorting. Calming himself down, he mentally chided himself for being so quick to anger at the appearance of the fake Zeros.

Without warning he jumped to a large, open window, looking back at the sage, "Oi. I don't really want to be examined today, eh? I've already been though enough already, thanks. Ciao!"

He jumped out the window.

Upon looking down, he realized that he should really have watched where he was going to land first.

"Yeeeooooowwwwl-!"

_Splash_!

The four he'd left behind looked calmly down at him from above. Mikhail smiled, "Well, fair enough I suppose. Some other time then?" He smirked and left. After a laugh, the others left as well.

Omega dragged himself from the pond, sopping wet. The cat part of him was thoroughly pissed off at himself for his lack of grace.

That, and you got yourself _wet_ you idiot. _Wet_!

Cat and wet _do not _mix.

The great God of Destruction, in all his neko glory, padded into a corner to sulk.

X X X

After a good half hour of being disgusted at nothing in particular, Omega realized that no one had bothered to follow up in trying to catch him. He was miffed at that, but realized the same thing that the Legionnaires must have. With him captured by them, they could do what they wanted at leisure. Why rush to get something done when you could do it whenever you wanted? Besides, they probably had more pressing matters to take care of, being a world government and all.

Instead of falling to the cat's instinct of correcting their abysmally disrespectful behavior towards him, he decided to do some meditation. Before settling down to do so, he inspected his surroundings for potential threats.

Omega was currently situated in a small courtyard garden, heavily overgrown with leafy, concealing foliage. It must have been a less popular garden, for there was only one entrance in or out and he hadn't heard the thing open or close the whole time he'd been there. The late afternoon sun blazed on its slow descent to the horizon, casting long, dark shadows in the small space.

Satisfied, he closed his eyes and began with a systems check. He was more than a little shocked to find some sort of reminder from his potential systems!

_Potential systems upgrade completed. DNA-Ashe, DNA-Grey and DNA-Model A similarities analyzed. Data synthesis complete, EX Combo information uploaded. Initiate EX Combo testing systems?_

Omega blinked, but decided to see what it was all about. He read through the uploaded information. Then, he grinned, a malicious, triumphant smile that would've scared the daylights out of any being sad enough to have seen it.

Well, that Ex Combo thing needed to be tested out, didn't it? Why not here! First, to choose a DNA. He chose one randomly, and with a victorious roar, he yelled out the name of the EX Combo.

"A-TRANS!"

X X X X X

Over the garden, birds rose in terror, screeching loudly to drown out the memory of the frightening event they'd heard.

It was not the triumphant roar that had scared them.

It was the resulting scream.

X X X X X

Omega, in a foreign body, lay gasping in pain. He writhed in agony as his systems screamed warnings at him.

_Warning. Warning. Pain Recognition Systems overloaded. Temporary shutdown activated. Potential system loaded. Initiating recovery response..._

Grey and Ashe, the Model A mega men, had one gift from Albert that neither of them realized. The Model A was designed that, during transformation, when organs melted and changed, bone structures shifted, and skin and armor ripped apart or reformed, they didn't feel it. In a merciful design, Albert had included programming where, during the transformation, the part of the nervous system responsible for pain recognition was blocked.

Omega didn't have that luxury.

As he lay in dull shock, his systems rebooting, he could do little but stare straight ahead. Red demon or not, the sheer amount of pain had struck him dumb.

His internal systems were racing, trying to figure out where things were, and why they were suddenly two inches to the left, a centimeter too far to the right, or not there altogether. His potential system, whatever the hell that damned thing was, was apparently trying to reconfigure this or reprogram that, and it was messing him up rather well. Slowly, however, he recovered, moving his legs awkwardly.

The pain was gone, and his sense of touch returned. Even so, he took his sweet time regrouping himself.

His first attempts at getting back up were laughable. Omega first tried using his hands, having forgotten that he didn't have them anymore.

The wings proved too cumbersome for such a purpose, causing him to flop back to earth. This time Omega used his legs, raising himself as the burning tail cut through the air to retain his balance.

As he finally stood up, he looked at himself for the first time through Devilbat Ignis' eyes.

The familiar claws gouged the earth, the wings beginning to burn like they had for her. The tail was already fiery and now threatened to burn the foliage he was hiding in. If it hadn't been for his recent episode with the neko virus, the large ears would have proven hard for him to balance on his head.

Omega flexed those monstrous wings experimentally. They crackled and groaned with a lustful burning, seeking to devour the skies.

The skies... The God of Destruction turned his baleful glare to them.

Well, since he had just gone through so much trouble getting them... he might as well use them!

And with one powerful, meaningful stroke of those magnificent wings, he was off!

X X X

Sneaking out of Legion had been pathetically easy. Omega knew that he'd be returning to that garden often. There were no cameras there, and after a certain distance, there were none higher up either. He'd left uninterrupted with but a few tentative flaps. Currently the fiery bat from hell was soaring gracefully, high above the clouds and out of sight from the occasional person who looked up.

He traveled far, jubilant with his new ability. Flying was so opposite from life on the ground! He couldn't believe it!

Whereas before, he'd lived centuries stuck on or in the earth, forced to consider his range of motion on a flat plane, he now could go literally anywhere! It was the great transition from 2D to 3D. It wasn't the netherworld, a prison with nothing but walls and spikes! It was empty, free air!

"__!"

If the devilbat's face could have smiled, Omega knew he'd have the stupidest looking grin possible plastered all over it right now.

Flying was amazing!

He finally understood how Harpuia, so long ago, could have been so arrogant when dealing with others. After all, how could they know the freedom that he did? Other people were nothing but fools crawling all over a rotten chunk of land!

Of course, those fools were also the ones who controlled everything. How ironic.

In a hit of daring, Omega decided to dive through the clouds. Regardless of life and newly transformed limb, he dropped towards the surface far below him. Nothing but ocean and icebergs met his view, for he had flown far out from land.

Banking steeply, he managed to avoid a potentially fatal crash on the water's surface, racing over it with as much speed as he could muster.

He was having fun. A _lot _of fun. Hell, there was even a dolphin jumping nearby.

Said dolphin, far in the distance, was jumping towards him. Only when it got close did he start to swear and desperately try to gain altitude.

That was no dolphin!

Oceatar's grinning maw peered up at him from below curiously.

"Oi, Ignis, where have you been? We thought you were all dead after your last raid!"

Omega stopped, flapping slowly. Had Oceatar and Ignis been friends? He replied as best as he could, "Oh, around. Should it matter?"

Thankfully, his voice had changed with his body. Oceatar started swimming lazily in circles, laughing, "Yeah, you idiot, it does!"

Spotting a nearby platform of ice, Omega flew to it. It was a large expanse of frozen tundra, gleaming white in the last rays of the sun. He perched on the edge, looking down at the marlin pseudoroid.

"So it does matter? To whom? Doesn't matter to me."

Oceatar followed him from out at sea, floating beside him in the water. He turned on his side to gaze humorously at Omega. Slapping the surface of the water lightly as he laughed, Oceatar sent a teasing spray at him, "Oh ho ho! I knew it! I knew you were going to defect! I saw from day one that you didn't like that Scimitar guy when he forced our group to join his!"

"Oh, really?" Omega replied dryly, cocking his head. This had gotten interesting.

Oceatar somehow managed to appear sheepish, "Er, okay, so _I_ didn't like him. I didn't know about you, but see, I was right! Especially when he told us all to try recruiting that one miserable sod. Tch, he really ground me up when I... well, whatever. I just don't like him either! Good for you for defecting!"

Omega took off into the air, 'playfully' dive bombing Oceatar. He clipped the marine reploid with his claws lightly. "So what, were you going to defect too?"

Oceatar rolled to his stomach in the water, not even bothering to respond to the attack, "Yeah, actually. I just wasn't sure about it, but now that you've gone and done it-"

Having assumed that Omega was just dive-bombing him for fun, Oceatar was completely taken aback when the fiery pseudoroid picked him clean out of the water, depositing him on the icy plain just before the weight of the fish brought them both crashing down. Even so, Ignis' claws skittered across the ice. Oceatar flopped in a panic.

"What is the meaning of this! Ignis!" he yelled fearfully.

"You were right about one thing," Omega spoke ominously. Oceatar managed to twist himself around in time to see a bright flash of light.

Omega, who had braced for the pain of transformation, was pleasantly surprised when it didn't hurt _quite_ as much as it had before (still made him wince heavily, though). He ignored his systems protesting and reprogramming themselves again according to his potential system. Instead, he smiled when Scorzon's poisonous tail embedded itself deep in Oceatar's gut, releasing its paralyzing toxins.

"Devilbat Ignis died."

Another flash was all that was seen. Oceatar screamed, "Who are you? Model A! Is that you, you damned Model A mega man!"

His theory was cut short when Omega emerged in his own body, smiling evilly.

Realizing that the Model A mega men would never be able to have such a demoniac expression, he choked. In sheer terror, he managed to squeak out, "Who... are you... Albert?"

"Oh, you don't recognize me from that polar bear swim? Oh dear..." cooed the God of Destruction.

Oceatar's eyes shot open. Paralyzed and helpless on the ice, he could do nothing. The situation from before had completely turned the tables on him. Instead of staring at a defenseless victim caught in his domain, he now cowered under the might of a fully armored God of Destruction, helpless.

"You wish."

The last thing he ever saw was that evil, merciless smile.

And the last thing he ever heard-

"Ware wa messia nari."

X X X X X

Night had fallen upon Legion, but had brought no rest with it. The mega men and their friends were searching desperately for Omega, but having no luck.

Pandora had just returned from yet another survey of some random hall, and was returning past her room when she passed another searcher along the way. A quick exchange of info and the two were back at it.

Another half hour passed when a miracle happened. Out of some desperate hope, she had decided to look in his room to see if he'd given them all the slip by staying in there.

He hadn't. But he _was_ calmly walking down the hall towards it like nothing had ever happened.

She skidded to a halt, panting. After regaining her breath, she looked up at the amused demon staring down at her.

"Where the hell were you?"

He grinned down at her. She realized, right then, that that grin was far too wide.

"Oh, about!" he retorted cheerfully.

Knowing full well that a guy called the God of Destruction smiling couldn't possibly equate to anything good, she gulped. But, she had to ask, "Hey... what're you... smiling for?"

He looked confused for a second, but the smile regrew and he pointed at his head.

"Ears are gone!"

Pandora was taken aback. Well... that _was_ a good reason... maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought?

"Well, I'm off to have a bath!" he crowed blissfully.

It was just as he slipped into his room that she noticed the odd smell. It was crisp and salty, but pungent like the sea... and something else. She gave the closed door an odd look before she went off to tell the others.

X X X X X

As he soaked in the tub, Omega didn't even bother trying to wipe the grin off his face.

Oceatar, he had to admit, was fast for sea travel.

Reflecting back on the day's events, Omega scrubbed himself down with a bar of soap, erasing the smell of the sea and the blood that had been caked on him just under his shirt.

After brutally slaughtering the pseudoroid, Omega had tried out the new Icebreaker EX Skill that he'd gained. It was a powerful punch that let him shatter weaker objects like wooden boxes or blocks of ice, and he was sure eager to try it on someone's face when he got the chance. That could really break a few noses, at least!

_But, then again_... he mused, Using the EX Skill as it was meant to be used by the pseudoroid was sure fun too.

After all, without a fist to punch with, he had to use that wonderful javelin nose.

It wasn't called Icebreaker for nothing!

Then there was the fact that he'd surprised more than a few boats on his way back. Imagine the looks on the faces of the sailors, cautiously steering past blocks of ice, when they suddenly had a malicious-looking pseudoroid launch straight out of the water at them, ice shattering in his wake and giggling like some insane clown!

And then have that same pseudoroid just flop back into the water and disappear.

Man, they had scrambled! Omega didn't need to imagine their faces, since he'd stored the memory right where he could access it when he needed a laugh.

He still needed his sword back from the Legion higher-ups, but for now, he had more than enough to amuse himself with. Besides, he could always plot how to steal it back later.

It was nearly midnight when the red demon finally clambered out of the tub and watched it drain.

It looked a lot like blood, slipping away from a forlorn carcass through a crack in the ice...


	26. Deathly seduction

Disclaimer: Ownership of all characters except those previously mentioned as mine, as well as Ejen, belong to CAPCOM. That is, the characters they made are theirs, the ones I made are mine, and I won't claim anything otherwise.

Shorter chapter this time around... yay...?

* * *

Snug and asleep in his warm bed, Omega didn't realize when the door was opened.

Grey, filled with childish curiosity, was leaning in the door, peering at the sleeping demon. Thetis was behind him, trembling slightly.

Dawn had come and gone, and the day's sunlight filtered in through the closed curtains in tantalizing rays. Dust motes swirled elegantly in circles, dancing in the spotlight of the morning. A dim aura pervaded the room, barely lighting up the corners in an almost surreal glow. Dull as it was, it was enough to illuminate the features of the platinum-haired reploid as he slept. Even as the pair watched, his chest rose and fell, emitting a sound like bellows for a fire, albeit much softer. In truth, it reminded them of some great beast. He yawned, his elongated canines showing clearly as they glinted in the calm light, and they froze. Then he shifted into a more comfortable position, his hair rustling lightly.

Atlas had appeared behind the duo as they watched, and whispered, "Oi, what are you two doing here?"

Theits and Grey both jumped. After quickly asserting that the movement had not gone detected by Omega, Grey answered her, "We were just watching him."

"Well, 'cause, you know, it's kinda weird to see him so peaceful. Any other time he scares the bejeebers outta me." Thetis added.

Atlas nodded in agreement, "Yeah, he certainly did a number on us the other day. And then he all but disappears the next..."

Grey frowned, "You know, he's going to get himself in trouble some time. I know he's strong, but we've been mostly holding back. One of these days we won't have to and..."

"Payback time!" Grinned Atlas. The group continued to watch him some more before Thetis piped up.

"Why wait guys? We can get a bit of payback now!"

The others looked at him in surprise. Then Thetis' malicious grin soon infected their faces as well.

"I did notice that he had a bucket when his stuff was brought in earlier-"

"And what better to put in a bucket than water? Ice water!"

"Do you think your biometals will be okay with it?" Grey asked. Model A was still in Ashe's possession after the incident with his neko prank, but the other two had theirs. Upon inquiring their biometals, however, they were pleasantly surprised when they agreed whole-heartedly.

"I think it' be great to see his reaction!" Chimed Model L.

"'Bout time the lazy bastard got up anyways," Model F grouched.

Because of this, the happily slumbering God of Destruction didn't know what hit him until it was too late.

One minute, he was curled up peacefully (relatively speaking) on his bed, the next, everything went straight to hell in a handbasket.

Someone jumped on his bed with all their might, launching him into the air. His limbs flailing wildly, he didn't have a chance to see the culprit before a bucket (his own, no less!) of ice-filled water was shoved over his head.

The resulting shriek made several people across legion drop whatever they were holding in surprise. Aeolus was left cursing and hopping on one leg after his cup of tea had splashed the other.

Unfortunately, the unidentifiable pranksters hadn't quite finished with him yet. After an amazingly short recovery time, Omega lunged blindly at the location of the culprit.

Had his hair not been tied to the bedpost, he'd have mauled them.

With a yelp he was sprung back by his own hair, forced to retreat, and the pranksters followed suit. They slammed the door of his room, locking it as they fled laughing gleefully down the corridor.

Cursing obscenely, the prank victim threw one of his pillows in anger at the general location of the door. It hit with a poof instead of a thump, having exploded into a cloud of feathers due to the sheer velocity at which Omega threw it.

Realizing that throwing a temper tantrum was getting him nowhere, Omega set to removing the bucket from his head. Easier said than done. Whoever had shoved it on him had put more than enough effort into it, and it was thoroughly stuck. Eventually he just tore it apart and peeled it off.

Soon after he set to untying his hair, wincing as he tugged on the strands. He stroked his sore scalp. Oh, someone was going to pay for that...

But, first things first. He threw the remainder of the bucket into the trash and headed for the bathroom. That water was freakin' _COLD_. He _really_ needed a warm shower right about now.

After that business was attended to, he dried off, threw on some clothes, and started brushing his hair (gently).

A knock sounded on his door as he was struggling with a particularly nasty matte (a rather unfortunate side-effect of not brushing it for a few centuries).

Aeolus called, "Are you decent?"

"Yeah! Come in..."

As the wind mega man opened the door, he noticed the pile of feathers strewn across the floor. He gave Omega a questioning look.

"None of your business," Omega snapped.

Aeolus responded with a slight frown, kicking aside some of the pillow's innards as he entered. "I don't suppose it has anything to do with the scream earlier this morning?" the Red Demon noticed that he had a slight limp.

"Scream? I didn't hear anything. Just got up," he lied blatantly.

He received a snort in response, but the subject was dropped. "You wouldn't happen to have any plans for the day, would you?"

Omega leered, "And so what if I did?"

Aeolus glanced at him mockingly, "Then you'd have to drop them. The Masters wanted an investigation done in the national park district. Apparently there have been some abductions. Everyone else is busy at the moment, so you and I are being sent to investigate."

Omega scowled, "Well, I do hope that the Masters realize that I won't do anything of the sort unless I get my weapons back."

If Aeolus noticed Omega's attempt at regaining his weapons, he didn't react, "Please, there's no need for that. One mega man is enough. Quite frankly, I don't want to have to watch my back for abductors _and_ you. Come along then."

Indicating that Omega should follow, the wind mega man left the room at a brisk walk. Giving his hair one last tug, Omega noticed with satisfaction that he'd finally cleared away the matte.

Aeolus led him through Legion, arriving at a teleporter. Omega noted the route and committed it to memory.

A few words were exchanged between Aeolus and the operator, and they were off.

X X X

The pair materialized in the park. They took their bearings,Omega taking a few steps forward.

A gentle breeze ruffled his hair as the sun shone on an ideal, relaxing locale. Widely spaced trees shaded a dirt path winding through the bright forest. Shade was plentiful from the path and to the more densely packed trees bordering it from far away. Small plants, long grasses and soft bushes were plentiful in the spaces between the elegantly twisting trunks supporting the canopy above. Gentle grasses waved to the as they entered, inviting them to explore the fantasy landscape.

Omega sneered to himself as they set off. How disgusting! A wasteland suited him any day over this...

A short walk later, they were met by someone who, presumably, was a park ranger.

Aeolus nodded respectfully, "Good day. Were there any new reports or sighting?"

"You know as well as I do that there's no sightings. Never are," the man sighed, "nor is there a report."

"No luck finding any of the victims, or the kidnapper?"

"No," the man sighed. "Unfortunately, the loam around here is too moist. We get wide, flat tracks, but no footprints or anything. I'm beginning to wonder if we're really dealing with a person here."

Aeolus frowned, "You suspect a pseudoroid?"

"Maybe. Anyways, the most recent abduction was a few miles over. Judging by the path they've got going, they may still be around here. Be careful, and best of luck."

Another ranger ran up, and the two headed off to search for the mysterious kidnapper.

Omega watched them leave. Random disappearances? How odd. Not like he cared though. The only thing that interested him was the fact that it might be a pseudoroid.

The two left, starting a search of their own. Trotting down the path, Omega leisurely took note of his surroundings. At the same time he was alert, watching for anything out of place.

Aeolus was also watchful, his eyes roaming through the foliage.

It was only after a few hours that they found anything suspicious. After traveling through a tunnel made by a tree falling on a dense thicket, they noticed a flat, winding trail that disappeared into the bush. It glistened with dew, moisture that had not been touched or evaporated by the sun.

"Is this one of the trails the ranger was talking about, you think?" pondered Model H to Aeolus.

Omega, having not been the one addressed by the biometal, could only just make out what he was saying. Hmm, he'd heard the Model A just fine the other day... the conversation continued despite his musings.

"Appears that way," Aeolus responded to the biometal, "although I can't tell which direction that it's headed. It looks like it may have either come or gone from that swamp we saw earlier."

Aeolus turned to Omega, "I'll go take a look at these tracks going this way. You follow it the other way."

Aeolus took to the skies, headed to the aforementioned marsh. Omega watched the mega man as he flew away, conversing with his biometal, before following his own side of the trail. As the two flew off, he noticed that he could hear less and less of what the biometal was saying.

_Perhaps I can't hear them over a certain distance or if they're not talking to me directly_ wondered Omega. Putting that question aside for now, he continued on his way.

Another hour passed as he meticulously followed the trail as far as he could. However, as the trail petered out, he realized that he was following it the wrong way. Oh well. Without a weapon, he wasn't too keen on meeting whatever made the nearly meter-wide track. Huffing in annoyance, he considered whether or not to run off again. However, as he'd already done that last night, he wasn't sure he wanted to incur the wrath of Legion just yet by doing it again. After reaching the end of the trail, he turned to go back.

Omega sauntered slowly towards where he and Aeolus had parted.

Just because he had to go back, it didn't mean that he was going do it at anything other than his own pace.

X X X X X

As the wind mega man flew overhead, a serpentine head ducked below a concealing patch of reeds. Her eyes, just below the water's surface, watched him pass.

As much as she'd absolutely _love_ to know what the eagle mega man tasted like, now might not be a good time. Unless she could lure the bird to a bush to ambush him, he could strike back. And seeing that they were in an open expanse of water and weeds, that wasn't going to happen. Not too eager to catch the business ends of his talons, she swam back to her own trail under the muddy swamp water. After double checking to see that he wasn't looking her way, she disappeared into the foliage from whence she'd come.

Hiding her newer trail by going over her older one, she slithered through the thickets and arrived swiftly at where the ones hunting her had parted. She scented Aeolus' tracks with her tongue, then noticed that his weren't the only ones there.

Well, well... So he wasn't the only one after her!

And by the looks of the other tracks, the other one was ground-bound.

Smiling hungrily, she remembered a little den that she'd passed earlier. It was hidden in the ground, and would be absolutely perfect for storing someone...

With that, a plan to catch both of her pursuers popped into her head. If she got the one, the other would follow to try and find their friend.

One of those, she supposed, could be shipped back to her raider group for reprogramming, but the other...

Well, she didn't have to tell them that there used to be two, now did she?

And with that, she skidded down the path, found a nice hiding place, and concealed herself.

X X X X X

Omega noticed something odd the minute he stepped into the clearing. Sunlight fell through the trees in a dappled pattern, camouflaging the various hills and valleys of the forest floor. As he stepped cautiously along the path, his eyes skirted around, observing every detail that he could. A broken twig there, a drop of moisture here, all things that hadn't been there in his last passing.

And then, there was the scent.

A sickly-sweet smell hung in the glade, oozing from an unidentifiable source. To a man called the God of Destruction, it was both intoxicating and a warning. He stood in that clearing for five whole minutes. However, no further clues or dangers presented themselves. He allowed himself to relax slightly, but continued with much more caution than before.

As he exited the clearing, a small rustle sounded to his left. He whipped towards it. Some vine-like thing was wrapped around a bush, twitching.

In an instant, he realized that the vine, which was not really a vine at all, was laid across the path inconspicuously, but lead to somewhere behind him.

The next, he realized his mistake when he felt the fangs impaled his gut.

He tried to yell and twist to face his attacker, but a hand covered his mouth and he was jerked roughly when he tried to snap the jaws connected to his side.

Disoriented, he only managed a glimpse of the brown, patterned coils crushing him from his waist down, to prevent him kicking, before another sickening insight dawned on him.

A snake... He'd been bitten by a huge damn snake?

And just like Scorzon, it seemed that they had venom of some sort. Only this was worse.

Omega gave one last, rebellious jerk before he blacked out.

Today just wasn't his day, was it?

X X X

Groaning, he awoke some time later. Dirt scratched his head as he stirred. It was dark, damp, and cold. The reason for that was painfully obvious.

His captor had stashed him somewhere underground. Light barely pervaded the earth cavern, roots hanging limply from the ceiling barely three meters overhead. The scent of peat permeated through the natural room and his nostrils. His clothes were gone, mud and grass from the surface clinging doggedly to his frame.

Struggling weakly to his feet, he slipped and fell, accidentally alerting his captor.

"Oh sweetie, are you up already? Shame, you should have been out for another ten hours at least..."

Omega jumped backwards as a twenty meter long pseudoroid glided ominously into the room. Her upper torso was humanoid, and scantily clad at that. Deep brown, diamond-shaped scales covered her body from head to tail tip, decorated with an intricate design of coffee coloured lines in a delicate pattern. That same shade also decorated the spartan armor on her chest and thighs. Her hands rested on her hips. That, however, was where the human resemblance ended. Her head and long tail were clearly serpentine. As her eyes roamed Omega, the hood along her neck opened slightly, revealing even more confusing designs. Her coils rustles as they slid together.

"Aaahhh, such a shame. Even though you are awake, you lack the necessary parts..." came a gutteral lisp.

Omega took up a defensive position, glaring at her, "I lack nothing important. What is the meaning of this?"

She ignored his question, appraising him in a sultry manner, "Dearie, isn't it obvious? You lack the parts that would have let me have a little... _fun_, with you. Such a shame..."

Omega jerked, catching onto her meaning as the seductress raised herself upon her tail. He grimaced. This _really_ wasn't going to be his day, was it? "Too bad so sad, lady. Give me my clothes back."

Leaning out dangerously, she let her forked tongue dance over his face, causing him to flinch in revulsion, "How handsome... but, the name's not 'lady', it is Ejen. I am the Amber Nagaroid, seducer and devourer of men." Her fingers traced a pattern just in front of his chest.

She leaned back, and Omega took the opportunity to distance himself more as well. Ejen seemed contemplative, muttering aloud, "Oh dear, this really does cause problems. I can't hunt the Eagle if this rat is moving about... no no. Hmm, well, I was hoping to see what the eagle tasted like, but perhaps I will be calling him a comrade instead. I'm sure my leader will be most happy to reprogram him. Huhhh... but I kind of liked this one. Then again, lacking those parts... Oh well." Ejen turned her gaze the the red reploid, eying him hungrily.

"What do you want with me?" Omega snapped, preparing for the inevitable.

Her tongue flickered, "Well, well, a curious little rat, hmm? Very well, I'll tell you. I belong to a group of raiders who specialize in capturing and reprogramming reploids to work for them, to sell to other groups, etc. I'm their mascot and sole pseudoroid, and they do rely so much upon me, but... they don't really feed me well. They don't like me sampling the products. So, I have to take matters into my own hands!"

She suddenly lunged, jaws agape and teeth ready to puncture Omega's hide. He jumped back, hitting a wall. Before her coils could entrap him and end his efforts right there, he dashed forward. Catching her jaws, he snapped them shut before she could resist. He twisted so that he was on her back, laid upon the very hood meant to scare away rivals.

Thrashing ensued, he barely managed to hold on as she writhed. Trying to dislodge him by banging against the walls and ceiling, she hissed. Her tail snaked its way around his ankle, the rest of it soon attaching itself to him up to his lower chest.

However, Omega wasn't built like her normal victims. He hung on doggedly, and eventually the pair was still. His legs grappled her neck like a vice, her serpentine form trying to squeeze the life out of him. The God of Destruction responded by doing his utmost to snap her jaw, but with little success.

It was a stalemate. He was still shaking off the effects of the venom, but was holding his own. She was far too big to have any bones broken easily, but this also gave her less room to maneuver in the gloomy den and around her small prey. It didn't really help that he was right in the position where she couldn't bring the full might of her body to bear. For five whole minutes, the duo were locked together, seeking to kill the other but gaining no purchase. But then...

Stretching her arm, Ejen barely managed to grab a hold of one of his pale locks of hair. Giving it a ruthless tug, she hoped to make him lose his grip. It didn't work quite as well as she hoped, but he gave a surprised yelp nonetheless. Temporarily distracted, Omega's chokehold lost strength. It wasn't much, but it was enough.

The two became a tangled knot of appendages as she broke free, both of them struggling for dominance over the other.

They came to another halt. Omega's arms were straight above his head, fending off the jaws seeking his skull from above. Ejen's thick muscles entwined him thoroughly, trapping him in their deadly embrace. Hell knows which direction his legs were going, only that they weren't helping him much.

She tried to break his arm, moving another length to his shoulder and attempting to wrap it around him. He did the best thing he could, biting it with all the strength he could muster. She shrieked, tightening the rest of her body as that particular coil retreated.

Omega cursed quite profoundly as he hear something, several things actually, creak under the pressure. His ribs weren't holding up under the assault well. Most of his muscle mass was focused away from the area, so it was no surprise that he found himself unable to fight them back, or even breath. Which sucked, since that meant he couldn't use his flamethrower breath. Thank heavens he didn't need oxygen or he'd have bit it, but at the same time, he was going to overheat if he wasn't careful.

Damn Legion! If he'd only had his saber, this would never have gotten this far!

Ejen, on the other hand, had the light of triumph in her eyes. Oh, if only she could get her jaws past those shapely arms-!

Swinging her jaws from side to side, Ejen pitted the strength of her upper body against the power of Omega's torso.

Similarly, Omega was just starting to charge a Heat Launch EX Skill. If he released it at the same time as a Static-!

It was at this exact moment that, attracted by Ejen's earlier yell, Aeolus entered the dirt cavern.

"What the hell!" he yelped.

The duelers were caught off-guard by the wind mega man's entrance. Ejen recovered quicker, shoving her head another foot closer to engulfing her hapless prey.

"For God's sake _help me_!" Omega roared, fighting off the teeth centimeters away from piercing his head.

Aeolus wasted another second before coming to his senses. Bringing out his sabers, he ran at the snake.

As the blades bit into her flesh, she screamed in rage, breaking out of Omega's grip to lunge at Aeolus. Omega promptly squirmed from her grip. Realizing her folly, she turned back to bite him, only to get a fist in her face. Aeolus was forced to back off as she writhed in the cramped space.

Omega grabbed her midriff, still coiled around his stomach. The Heat Launch finished charging. Howling angrily, he activated the EX Skill, tackling her into the wall at back-breaking speed.

As she slammed into the wall, her back did indeed break. The snap echoed brutally through the chamber.

Ejen slumped to the floor. Caught in a battle-rage, Omega grabbed her head, twisting it. Why stop with her back? He was going to break this bitch's neck!

"Halt!"

Aeolus' announcement startled Omega back to reality, where he gave the mega man a disapproving glare, "Why? I'll kill her!"

"No, _we_ are going to take her back for questioning!" snapped Aeolus.

Growling, Omega tried to stare down the mega man. After a minute, he realized that trying to get his own way wasn't going to work. Furious, he pounded the pseudoroid's head into the wall, snapping her jaw. She screamed as he broke off one of her own teeth, stabbing her with it before the wind mega man could object. Ejen twitched, then fell limp, unconscious due to her own venom.

"She won't be fighting back this way," he snapped at Aeolus' appalled look.

The deed was already done, so the wind mega man simply walked forward, picked up her body, and proceeded to drag it out of the room.

"I found your clothes outside by the way," he spoke, "you'll want to get dressed before the other rangers come."

He threw the articles over his shoulder as he left. Omega gave him an acidic look before picking up them up from the floor.

X X X

After he'd gotten dressed, he left the hollow. Ejen had already been tied up and was being carted away in a cage. Aeolus motioned to one of the rangers as he left with the limp form. The ranger came to Omega, appearing meek.

"Sir, you are to follow me to the teleporter, please."

Omega didn't respond, but followed the small man as he walked.

Still angry from being cheated of his kill, Omega took little notice of his surroundings as they walked. With the pseudoroid's fang still grasped in his hand, he ignored the idyllic scenery as they meandered back.

He absorbed the DNA in the fang without a second thought, ignoring the resulting messages popping up in his head.

Even as he stepped sourly onto the teleporter and was whisked away, he ignored the notifications his systems were trying to give him, simply storing the files away for later.

When he was back in Legion, he just retraced his earlier steps to his room, slammed the door after entering, and didn't go out for the rest of the day.

X X X X X

Aeolus returned to Legion after the necessary paperwork had been signed and filed away. He wandered around Legion until bumping into Master Mikhail, who was pouring himself some tea.

"Mind if I have some?"

"Of course not."

The two started a pleasant conversation filled with small talk. Only after a good fifteen minutes of beating around the bush did they get to the main topic.

"So," Aeolus started, "he didn't ask for medical attention or anything?"

"Nope", replied the Master, "just shut his door and that was that. We tried to get in earlier, but it seems that he's figured out how to lock it from the inside."

"Hmph. How odd."

The conversation continued. To them, and everyone else, it seemed he had become just another part of Legion. Just another thing to look over in the daily routine.

Or, perhaps not.

Situated outside Omega's door, Pandora stood with a blush on her face. She held a letter in her hand. Staring at the blank portal, she seemed to be trying to work up her nerve.

It failed.

With a small squeak, her face blushed redder. She turned and ran, too afraid of something unseen.

How odd.


	27. Temporal Trauma

SubZeroChimera- "Hi guys, Chimera Here! S.Z. Chimera, to be exact! Sorry that this chapter took so long. I've got a disclaimer for you all to read, so enjoy!"

Omega- "Sure, whatever, can we get this over with?"

SubZeroChimera- *kicks Omega off the screen before holding up a bulletin board*

Disclaimer- Temporoc belongs to me, along with any other characters mentioned as belonging to me, however all characters not mentioned as belonging to me can automatically be assumed as belonging to CAPCOM. My use of them is purely for entertainment purposes blah blah there's no more space on this stupid sign and-

SubZeroChimera- *holds up another board as Omega gets back up* -I'm sure you all know what a disclaimer is supposed to do and I've already said everything once before, so just read the story please! Enjoy!

Omega- "You fail. You know that?"

SubZeroChimera- *Glares*

* * *

Sat upon the highest pinnacle of his laboratory chamber, the great bird displayed his wings as a nervous scientist entered.

Stepping forward cautiously, the tiny man shivered in his overlarge lab coat, his gaunt figure only further announcing the differences between their sizes.

"Temporoc... we need to discuss your recent... actions..."

With a quick snap of his head, the roc pseudoroid fixated both of his eyes on the man, his baleful, disinterested glare not helping the poor scientist's nerves one bit. "What dost thou pine to discuss, diminutive human?"

"Your... you've been acting up recently. You've been taking unauthorized actions, and quite frankly we're more than a little worried with your mental stability. We are going to run some tests on you, alright?" he gulped.

The great bird, his blue and gold feathers rustling, appeared to take great consideration of the matter. "I have made no unauthorized actions. Thine observances are flawed. As for the matter of thy tests, I shall respectfully decline."

The scientist seem shocked, then outright indignant, "Decline! You can't decline! Be aware of the structure of power here! You're but a measly pseudoroid! Legion commissioned us to make you as nothing more than a scientific experiment! You took years, but that doesn't make you any higher up in the hierarchy than the others! If your creators want you to go through a few tests, you go through a few tests! That's the law!" finished the man, breathing heavily.

The pseudoroid, instead of becoming enraged at the blatant reminder of his level in society, merely huffed in a dignified manner, "And that is where thy mistake lies. I am no mere pseudoroid. I am time! I shall give my forgiveness to thee for thine ignorance. I dub thee innocent, if only by lack of knowledge."

The scientist sputtered, "Wh-what! _You_ judge _me_ as innocent? What gives you the right to judge anything!"

"Quite simple. I am _time_," stated the great bird. "I am that which revolves this earth, I am the one who shall remain for eternity, to judge those worthy of remembrance. This pseudoroid body is but an avatar for my great power. Time judges all, it heals all wounds, forgives sins, and erodes evil. I am the supreme judge of this earth!" shrieked Temporoc, his metal wings glinting with splendor.

"This world has lain unjudged for for too long! Canst thou not understand, even in thine ignorance, what my ultimate power means? I am time! And now, I shall place judgment upon the other mortals who roam the lands which I watch over! Skreeeaaaa!"

The scientist watched as Temporoc suddenly flew skywards, smashing through the roof of the facility and winging his way deep into the sky above.

The scientist watched him leave, helpless to stop him."...He really did go insane, just like the reports said. I need to inform Legion," muttered the scientist. But, before he left, he gave the impromptu skylight one last glance.

"...Temporoc... you really believe that you are the embodiment of time?"

X X X X X

Mikhail sat in the middle of the conference hall of Legion, enjoying a rare break from the unending inquiries and debates brought by visitors and ambassadors to Legion. He glanced out of the great, spherical glass window that enclosed the hall, enjoying the view from the center of Legion's power. It was a view that left most in awe if they were not used to it, and still struck him every once in a while.

This peace was shattered by a panicked intern who rushed into the room, tripped over their own feet, and got back up again. _Here we go again_ thought Mikhail grudgingly as the human stopped in front of him, panting.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Mikhail asked.

The intern gave him the report of what had happened at the facility. Mikhail gave them a grave look, dismissed them, and grabbed a PDA communicator.

"All available megamen to the main conference room _now_."

X X X

Ten minutes later, Aeolus, Atlas, Siarnaq and Thetis were stood in front of Mikhail, grim expressions on their faces. They had just received a briefing on the situation.

"So, we need to destroy the maverick before it causes too much trouble?" asked Aeolus.

"Yes," confirmed Mikhail, "it has an experimental energy system which appears to cause temporal anomalies. It was still being researched when it went haywire."

"So, something like old Chronoforce had, right?" Thetis inquired, referring to the horseshoe crab pseudoroid from Albert's reign.

"Well, yes and no," replied Mikhail, "Chronoforce was the pilot project, however, most of his powers relied on disrupting the sensory circuitry of other reploids. Temporoc came later after some scientists studying Chronoforce discovered an inexplicable side-effect of some of his attacks. They'd isolated the sub-routine responsible and, well, Temporoc was the result."

"Sounds like fun," Atlas added sarcastically.

"INPUT; SUBJECTS AVAILABLE FOR OPERATION APPEARS REDUCED. INQUIRY AS TO STATUS OF MISSING SUBJECTS." droned the shadow mega man.

Thetis piped up, "Hmm? Yeah, where is everyone?"

Mikhail sighed, "Well, not too long ago, Ashe made a request on behalf of the guardians for funds to repair their ship. Thomas went with Ashe, Grey and Aile to observe the damages so he could approve the request. So, him as well as the model ZX and A mega men are, unfortunately, unavailable. A message has been sent to them, but they may not get it in time."

"Regardless of whether they get here or not, this threat needs to be dealt with immediately," Aeolus said regally. He turned to Mikhail, "Do they have any idea where it was last seen?"

The master nodded, "Yes, they do. He was recently seen in the field research area of the facility where he was manufactured. For now he seems to be acting fairly docile, merely telling the workers what to do and what not to do, but they're all worried that he could get violent."

"Well then, perhaps we should be the ones getting violent first, eh?" smirked Atlas. "When do we go? I don't think either we have all day to sit around and wait for him to start getting aggressive, now do we? When do we start the mission?"

"As soon as we get our favourite mercenary out here. I'm not having him unguarded in Legion after all."

Aeolus frowned, "But won't he be a hindrance in the mission? Why does he have to come?"

Mikhail smiled, "I think he's shown that he's more than capable of defending himself, really. Besides, I don't doubt the power of you four, but Temporoc is not someone to be trifled with. At the very least, you can count on him as backup. Even if he won't fight with you, if he's anywhere near you, Temporoc may think he's with you regardless and he'll be forced to fight. That, and the facility is well covered with cameras, if nothing else we can use this as an opportunity to see him in action."

"I worry more about him stabbing our backs, actually," Atlas grimaced, "but he does seem camera shy from what I've heard. I think those will be just enough to keep him under control."

"If Temporoc's gonna target anyone, I'd rather he hit the meatshield than me," Thetis laughed. Mikhail looked slightly offended at the suggestion of using their ally as a defense, but the other mega men were all for it.

"Hah hah, good plan!"

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"With any luck, the two will deal with each other without us having to lift a finger!"

X X X X X

Omega woke with a start as the door to his room opened. Soft light filtered in through the window, glinting off the glasses of the attendant stood there.

"Your presence is required by Master Mikhail," she said. Without another word, she had left the room.

Clad in nothing more than a pair of shorts, Omega had to scramble up, grabbing a shirt as he left to follow her to the master's chamber, effectively disorganized from the sudden start to his day.

Upon entering the Master's chamber, the attendant gave him a curt nod and left him standing like an idiot in the middle of the room, barely dressed and fairly frustrated. It was then that he noticed the four mega men looking at him, smirking slightly.

"Look who just woke up on the wrong side of the bed, huh?" Atlas grinned. Omega gave her a snarl before realizing just how much of a predicament he could be in right now. He was still technically unarmed, and for some reason they were all megamerged. This didn't bode well...

Fortunately fate had a different plan for him that day. Mikhail spoke up, "Ah, there you are, about time. You're to go on a mission with the mega men today, they'll explain as you go." With that he nodded to the mega men, who headed to the teleporter soon after. Caught completely off guard, Omega had no choice but to follow, forced to be reliant on them for information about what the _hell_ was going on.

The next few minutes were a blur, and it wasn't until he was standing in a flat plain that he had any idea of what was happening.

The plain seemed to stretch for miles, tan-green and barren. It was covered with short, hardy grasses and little else. Throughout the plain in one direction were channels made out of concrete, plain half-pipes filled with a viscous, slightly greenish-tinged liquid. Behind him was a large flat building, spreading outwards like a weary animal basking in the daylight filtering through the clouds. It looked a lot like a research facility. The signs dotting the sides only added to that impression.

"Watch out for those channels, they're meant to keep out intruders," warned Aeolus, "the liquid in them keeps any trespasser stuck until help, or law enforcement, arrives."

The group moved towards the facility, no one even giving Omega the time of day. Eventually, as one of the mega men had stopped to talk with a witness, he finally snapped.

"What the _hell_ is wrong with you here? I get woken up for who-knows-what kind of a mission without a word from anyone! Someone tell me what's going on!"

Atlas glanced back at him nonchalantly, but spoke up, "We're trying to track down and destroy a rogue pseudoroid. I guess you weren't told?"

"Uh, obviously _not_," he snapped back. The fire mega man rolled her eyes. The group continued their search, the red demon only slightly appeased. At least there would be something to kill afterward.

He looked around, grimacing. Nope, never mind, there were cameras everywhere and he couldn't afford being seen at full power. Scratch the bonus at the end. He fell back into his sour mood, tired and grumpy.

Man, how he wished he was still in bed and not being forced to do this mission.

And that was something he was not going to let the others forget.

"Geezus, you lot wake me up for _this_? It's not like you need_ my _help to tramp around like losers all day, but nooo, you just _had_ to drag me out of my nice, warm, cozy bed," he complained.

"Don't think we want to do this either!" was the retort.

Omega ignored that, continuing to grouch, "Seriously, you're a pack of idiots. You're all so incompetent you had to force me along. Tch." he swung his hair out behind him in the most irritating manner he could. Hey, with any luck, they'd get so tired of him they'd send him home.

"So what are you trying to say, that we needed a competent idiot around?" Aeolus barked. This earned snickers from the model F and L mega men.

The four bantered back and forth irritably for quite some, even stopping at one point to exchange insults. It was very nearly turning into a shouting match, and tensions were high.

It was during another bout of Omega's bed related whining that they finally came across the objective of their mission. Too preoccupied to notice the sudden silence of his audience, he walked smack-dab into him.

"Oi! Who the fu-?"

Temporoc glared down at him, the two-story bird taking stock of the small reploid in front of him. Likewise Omega had finally found motivation to shut up, at least for a minute, as he surveyed the great mutos in return.

Temporoc was appropriately named. The roc pseudoroid had magnificent wings, metal blades resembling plumage held proudly skyward with his humongous, golden talons planted firmly on the ground. As he twitched in curiosity, twelve longer, deeper blue feathers were stretched outwards magnificently, resembling the marks on the face of a clock. Decorative, but highly dense and functional armor plated his body, scraping lightly against itself as Temporoc moved his large head.

"Who hast appeared before me?"

At this point, any normal person, sane fighter, or even a mega man would have stopped dead and considered their options about facing the giant pseudoroid (as exemplified by how his allies had gone extremely quiet).

"Who the hell are you, feather-freak?"

Omega was quite clearly not in any of the aforementioned categories.

Temporoc glared down at the insolent god of destruction, "I am time."

Omega snorted derisively, "Yeah, sure you are, oh great pillow-in-the-making."

Having not been briefed on Temporoc's powers, he had no idea why the mega men were backing up, making panicked gesture for him to cut it out. The bird himself rose into the air, squawking indignantly.

"I am time, not a being to be mocked! I shall judge thee accordingly, he who laughs at time!"

With a great beating of his wings Temporoc rose into the air, the twelve long feathers and a gem on his chest glowing with power.

Atlas yelled, "Hit the deck!"

Her and the others all dove behind cover, and it was just then that Omega started wondering just what they were dealing with. He took another good look at Temporoc, confused, and blinked as the bird released power.

The second he finished his blink, Omega was clutched in the bird's talons, three of the four mega men hitting the bird with all they had. Several scorch and slash marks had appeared spontaneously on Temporoc, who was using his wings to send energy at the offending attackers as he hovered in the air.

He was completely dumbstruck. What the hell just happened!

To any observer beyond a certain range, the answer would have been obvious. The energy that Temporoc released had enveloped everything nearby in a blue sphere. Anything that was inside the sphere had simply stopped moving, stopped breathing, stopped all functions altogether. Just stopped. The only two affected had been Omega, right in the middle of the attack, and Thetis, trying unsuccessfully to launch himself out of the area affected. He hadn't made it like the others. Instead he was brushed by the edge of the sphere, levitating on the spot with his features frozen.

While the remaining three attackers got back up, Temporoc made his move, swooping down to pick up Omega. He grabbed him securely, the talons grating against the thick hide of his prey. A triumphant screech brought the attentions of the mega men, who immediately came to the God of Destruction's rescue.

Thetis, who had also just recovered from the attack, finished his dive and looked around for the others. He was startled by the sudden onset of battle, but brought his trident to bear regardless.

"Let me go!" roared Omega, beginning to struggle, "what the hell did you do? Let me go, airhead!"

Temporoc's head whirled, resting a baleful stare at his prisoner before squeezing harder. Omega hissed in pain.

"He used his temporal powers on you, idiot! He can control time!" yelled Atlas, who shot at Temporoc's wings with guns blazing.

The mutos took the hit but remained airborne, squawking as kunai hit the back of his head and bounced off. He brought his wings forwards, charging power, then jerking them fully open to release a barrage of energy towards the pests. They were forced to dodge or be knocked over by the energy blasts.

While Temporoc was preoccupied with defending against the mega men, Omega had maneuvered his arms to where he could push against the confining talons. He'd nearly levered them open by the time the roc realized what was going on.

"Thy affronts will be judged later, mega men. For now, it is this one's injustices that shall be punished!"

Without warning the roc beat his wings and rose high into the sky, headed for another part of the facility. Aeolus tried to catch up to him, but was swatted back down.

With that, the mega men slowly faded into the distance, unable to properly follow the bird except by foot.

Although Temporoc seemed to think he was in control of the situation, Omega decided to prove him wrong. Having finally gained some room, he grabbed one of the claws enclosed around him and used his immense strength to snap it.

Temporoc screamed, but held his course. He stopped over an open area, eyes glowing as he hovered in place.

"Time judges all, foolish mortal! Fear my wrath, thy punishment!"

When the roc opened his mouth, Omega knew instantly that it was going to involve more of that 'temporal power' displayed earlier. He also knew it was going to hurt. One last yank at the bird's claws released him, and he bailed without a moment to spare, a small blue sphere hitting his arm and causing intense pain.

Omega fell to the ground, wincing as his shoulder, now rusted, cracked upon hitting the ground. He struggled upright, holding the dead limb in place. One thing was for sure, there must have been some nasty amount of power behind that attack if it could rust _his_ metal. He'd really dodged a bullet there...

Temporoc snorted at the miss, flapping his wings once to gain some air, "Ah... it seemeth my power is less effective on thou than others...

The roc suddenly swooped down, catching Omega by surprise. The red demon struggled as he was lifted off the ground, not having expected Temporoc to attack him so suddenly. One set of talons grabbed him around his shoulder to prevent a counter attack while the other clutched his midriff. The roc hovered just off the ground, his prey effectively immobile in his grasp.

"If time alone will not suffice, then brute force seemeth appropriate for thy punishment!"

"What the hell are youaaaaAAAAAAAUUUUUUGH!" screamed Omega as Temporoc promptly reached down to the damaged limb and tore it off.

Blood splattered everywhere. Clutched in his beak, the limb sparked and fell limp. It was then lowered, dangling tauntingly in front of the one who had previously owned it. It slowly rusted as the pseudoroid influenced it with his power. Temporoc sneered, glaring at Omega. "It seemeth that the hand of fate has taken a hand from thou!"

Furious and bleeding, Omega spared one second to fix Temporoc one hateful, murderous glance that said everything about what he thought about the damn bird and wanted to do to it. Temporoc was slightly startled by the sheer malice.

Omega took a deep breath. Now it was _his _turn!

With a great exhalation, Omega finally found a use for Ignis's EX Skill.

Temporoc screeched at the flame enveloped his face and the thoroughly rusted limb. He dropped the offensive object which shattered and dissipated into an orange dust upon impact with the ground. Likewise Omega was dropped, with a less disastrous result.

However, the God of Destruction's victory was short lived.

Temporoc's talons slammed down on the prone reploid, trapping him belly down. The roc lowered his lethal beak, poising it just behind Omega's neck.

"I'll rip every atom of thy being apart for that affront!" shrieked the _very _ticked off mutos.

The other mega men rounded the corner just in time to see the action unfold.

With his remaining hand, Omega reached behind him and grabbed Temporoc's beak, holding it in place. Then he routed all of his energy into stopping the bleeding from his side... by regenerating the lost limb.

Stunned and struggling, Temporoc moved one eye to gaze at the limb as it regrew in a flash of light. Cracking his knuckles once, Omega drove his fist straight into Temporoc's eye socket.

Temporoc screamed.

Omega was jerked skyward, the pseudoroid's golden beak closed around his head. His limbs flailing, he could do nothing as the bird snapped its head one way, then straight back the other, attempting to break his neck as it twisted its whole body and flung him towards the horizon. His neck sore, but otherwise undamaged, he was shot into the sky like a slingstone.

He absorbed Temporoc's DNA as he flew, intent on using it later in the fight to surprise the hated foe.

Fate, once again, had other plans. Nearly a kilometer away from the fight, he landed with a _snap_ in a pit. Omega cried out in pain as his limb, delicate because it had only just been regenerated, snapped upon impact. He readjusted it with a _crack_, and it began to heal properly and harden. He panted heavily with the exertion of regrowing a limb.

Looking around at his surroundings, he noticed with a lurch that he had ended up in one of the half-pipe, slime-covered channels of the outer research facility. He tried to climb out, holding his damaged limb to prevent further injury, only to slide back due to the slippery material.

There were cameras everywhere. He couldn't risk being seen transforming.

Omega had been cut off from the battle.

X X X X X

Temporoc flexed his wings, bellowing in pain and rage as he prepared to lift off and find his foe.

"You just saw what our mystery mercenary did, right?" Atlas asked the group.

"AFFIRMATIVE."

"Damn. And here I'd hoped I was hallucinating or something," she replied.

"Less chat, more fighting, we still have a problem on our hands," Aeolus reprimanded.

"Right," Thetis nodded. He turned to Temporoc, "but how are we going to keep him where he is?"

"Oi! Attention, all overgrown, birdbrained chickens! Time's up you flying feather mattress!" yelled Atlas before the others had a say in the matter.

That did it. Temporoc whirled, shrieking in rage.

"Since when did that seem like a good plan?" Thetis backed up nervously as the enraged roc winged his way to their location.

"A good plan? Hell, it was just a plan, did you really think I'd think it through or something first?" Atlas laughed back.

Siarnaq facepalmed.

His action went unnoticed as Temporoc was suddenly upon them, no longer restraining himself as he harried them with his razor-sharp wings. The four mega men scattered, surrounding the mutos as he began to charge his attacks.

Thetis narrowly dodged a beam when it was aimed at him. Screeching, Temporoc took a step towards him only to turn to Siarnaq as the shadow megaman flung kunai at him. The shadow megaman began to dodge and throw kunai even as Temporoc's attacks peppered the area around him. Siarnaq smirked behind his mask as he effectively drew the bird's fire.

Atlas dashed in, pounding Temporoc's right leg. He stumbled, screeching, before taking to the air where Aeolus awaited him.

The wind megaman flew in to Temporoc's blind side. The pseudoroid began charging his ultimate attack, only to be stopped halfway by the electrified blades aimed at his disintegrated eye.

"Aaaaarraaaaargh! You shall pay for thy insolence, mega men!" he roared as the wound fell into further disrepair. Aeolus was sliced in return by Temporoc's wing, falling to the ground. Enraged, Temporoc fell with him, intent on tearing him to pieces.

His neglect of the others cost him. Siarnaq jumped in, deflecting the talons with his shield of shuriken. Thetis dashed in from the side, intent on jabbing his staff into one of the air vents in the pseudoroid's chest. His shot became a lucky one as the staff embedded itself to halfway up its hilt.

Temporoc screamed, but he was far from done yet. He swatted away Aeolus and Siarnaq, then pecked at Thetis, who still hung by the hilt in his side. The sharp beak caused a deep gouge in the ice mega man's side. Thetis yelled in pain, dropping like a stone. Temporoc turned to finish the job, but was jerked into instability by Atlas grabbing his leg.

"Oh no you don't!" she hollered. With a powerful yank she brought the pseudoroid to the ground from his hover. Temporoc was taken by surprise and succumbed to the maneuver. He recovered swiftly though, and tried to get his leg back from the Model F's grip.

A short tug of war began, Temporoc emerging the winner. He brutally kicked away the female megaman, knocking her to the ground. A movement distracted the pseudoroid from further action. He bared his beak at Aeolus, who had come in to defend his downed comrades. After managing to slash at the birds face twice, he too was battered to the ground.

With three of the four mega men momentarily incapacitated, Temporoc crowed triumphantly, again trying to charge his ultimate attack.

If there's one thing you never do, it's let an assassin out of your sight.

Siarnaq came in to Temporoc's blind side. Preoccupied with ending the lives of the other three, he was unable to react as Siarnaq jumped up his side to the open eye socket. The model P user latched onto the mutos' face, grabbing a kunai firmly in his grip. Temporoc finally realized that something was up, breaking his attack off and whipping his head to try and dislodge the danger.

Siarnaq gamely held on, drawing his kunai back. He mustered his power, plunging the kunai, and the arm that held it, deep into the opening and Temporoc's brain.

The bird shrieked as its body began to spasm. Siarnaq tried to pry himself free, but was having trouble as the armoured head swung around.

Thetis had recovered by this point. He lunged to Temporoc's chest, removing his staff with a twist. After avoiding the bird's flailing limbs, he maneuvered quickly to the head even as the body began to spark and glow as its overloaded core began to self destruct. The body stopped twitching wildly, falling forward and squealing as its internal mechanics tore themselves apart.

Thetis jabbed his staff under Siarnaq's arm and levered him out just as the powerful core exploded.

The two were sent flying by the blast along with some debris, crashing painfully against a wall. After the others were sure that everything was stable again, they ran over and helped them up.

"You guys alright?" Atlas asked. Thetis nodded, but Siarnaq winced as he was helped up. After an inquiring glance from Aeolus, he managed to squeeze out a response.

Pointing to his arm, he spoke, "RESPONSE; SPRAIN. OTHERWISE SYSTEMS ARE MODERATELY FUNCTIONAL."

Thetis coughed apologetically, "Ah... sorry if I got a little rough there. I just wanted to get you out before you got... you know."

Siarnaq shook his head and raised his good hand to show that he understood.

Silence reigned as the group took a breather. Finally able to unwind after a tough battle, they all unmerged with their biometals, letting them float and talk to each other.

Several minutes passed before Aeolus spoke up, bringing them back to the matter at hand. "Alright, so... I'll get a communicator and inform Legion. They probably already saw the recordings, but... well..."

"So, speaking of reporting back, we're missing someone, aren't we?" Thetis pointed out.

"AFFIRMATIVE. REPLOID DESIGNATED 'BLOOD DIAMOND' IS MIA."

"He flew over that way, didn't he?" Atlas pointed.

Thetis responded to her, and the two began a short argument over which exact direction he took. Aeolus simply let them be, contacting Legion and giving them the message. As he did, Siarnaq watched the others arguing with a blank stare, hiding his amusement at their antics. Aeolus finished, turning to them.

"Alright, Legion has been informed of the situation, as well as our friend's regenerative powers. I'm almost surprised that _they _weren't surprised... but anyways. Let's go find our mercenary. Now, which way did you say he went?"

Atlas and Thetis pointed in two opposite directions, exclaiming at the same time, "That way!"

The two glared at each other, still undecided. Siarnaq calmly rose as the two began to argue again, heading somewhere entirely different from where they had pointed. He ignored their protests, so eventually they gave up and followed. Aeolus chuckled and followed suit.

A short while later they had found Omega, much to the grumbled complaints of Atlas and Thetis. Aeolus told the pair to shut it as he inspected their dangerous ally's predicament.

Omega, after having landed in the pit, had tried valiantly to get out. He had been extremely eager for battle, but that eagerness had turned to exhaustion after numerous failed attempts to escape. Thoroughly tired now, the most he could do was an occasional burst towards freedom.

Judging by the slime coating the walls of the half-pipe, none of these bursts were very successful.

"Hey down there! All your limbs still attached?" Atlas hollered.

Omega looked up, finally noticing their presence. He gave her a very crude gesture with the regenerated limb to show her _exactly_ how well it worked. She laughed as he, once again, attempted to grapple up the sides unsuccessfully.

"I'm... I'll get you... in a minute...! Just give me a sec to- oh to hell with this goddamn pit!"

Atlas shook her head and teased, "Well, it's nice to know that the guy we're all afraid of can be torn limb from limb... and come back to beat your ass up despite that."

"Probably with one of his own dismembered limbs too," Thetis added, leaning over the edge to look.

"Puts a whole new meaning to 'punching your lights out'," Atlas joked. Thetis laughed at the the mental image.

"Kick your ass?"

"Smash your brains in!"

"Rip your guts out!"

"Can we please stop dismembering me in your minds, please?" Omega moaned, still trying to crawl out of the slime trap.

The mega men laughed at his expense.

"Oh come on, we'd better get him out and cleaned up," Atlas smirked, "the Masters wouldn't be at all happy if we dragged him back to Legion like this. He'd ruin all the good carpets!"

Omega slid down pitifully one last time as the comrades laughed. Defeated, he slumped, his whole body aching and heavy. The result was that he accidentally planted his face in the ooze, and quite frankly, he couldn't be bothered to take it out.

He _really_ wanted to go back to bed.


	28. Voices in your head

Oh my gosh, I know I said I'd try to update faster, but I obviously didn't and... geeze I am so sorry! Argh! Bad me!

* * *

Mikhail watched in amusement as his troupe returned from dealing with the rampaging pseudoroid.

Apparently some great fun had occurred at the expense of the now bedraggled looking mercenary. He was barely dry enough to not be referred to as dripping wet, but clearly more than soaked. Thetis was massaging his face from where he's been grinning too hard, Atlas was just grinning, and Aeolus had a smug smirk on his face much larger than the usual one. And Siarnaq...

Mikhail raised an eyebrow. Siarnaq had a harried look to him, clearly damaged and cradling his arm carefully. Yet, he had a spring in his step. That really caught the Master off guard, who turned his gaze to Omega questioningly.

The glare he received clearly indicated that, if he asked, he would end up splattered all over the walls, burnt into a crisp, and ripped to shreds in no particular order. After pausing for a moment to wonder how so much could be expressed with a simple glance, he shrugged it off and got to business.

"So, how was the mission? Receiving a report over a communicator is one thing, hearing it is another. Let's have it."

The report was delivered with painstaking accuracy by Aeolus, who took great pleasure in illustrating just how much their favourite new member had been in trouble and how they'd rescued him. The tale, which was accurate, if a little derogatory to Omega, was finished with a simple flourish about how they'd had to clean him off in the lab after the incident with the slime-filled canal. Thankfully Aeolus didn't narrate that with more than a few words, since Mikhail was pretty sure that the mercenary was about ready to throttle him. Very enthusiastically he might add.

Mikhail dismissed the mega men and the mercenary, the latter leaving the room in a fine fury. The others went elsewhere, to do whatever they did in their spare time. Atlas mentioned something about sparring, which made Thetis groan in reluctance.

The Master considered them as they left, a thought forming in his head.

Lately, a great deal of hunters and citizens of Legion were, to put it bluntly, getting rather bored. Bruised egos from the Ouroboros incident abounded, mostly belonging to those who'd had their ships destroyed and been unable to partake in the fight. Even some of the hunters that made it to the 'ultimate biometal' had been rather put out at how little they'd had to do when the Model A and ZX mega men had gotten their acts together and, to put it bluntly, kicked all sorts of ass. The guardians were the only group that had come away completely satisfied from having played such an important role. Even so, the relative peace that had resulted was undoubtedly a nuisance to a group that was so used to action. With all the Model W cores destroyed, a good lot of them were at a complete loss for what to do. The only thing keeping them occupied was the repair of their ship, and that would only keep them busy for so long. That attitude held by the guardians was common among a good portion of the populace. In simple terms, people who were used to fighting now found themselves standing idle, and people who'd wanted a fight were now without one. Tempers and tensions were higher than usual. No one admitted it of course, after all, the Ouroboros incident had ended a good amount of minor spats between people who'd realized that there was a common enemy, and fighting each other was a needless waste of energy. Having a giant doomsday device flying around tends to do that, he mused with a chuckle.

Still, Mikhail thought, with the source of a lot of the world's strife gone, tempers that had gone unsated were starting to return. Everyone was still riled up, but this time there was no single great enemy to fight (apart from the raiders, but the majority of them had smelled trouble and started acting more subtly. Those that hadn't, well...). In short, people were happy, but they wanted a fight. And you know what? Despite all that had happened, after all the trouble that the incident had caused, Mikhail was pretty sure that there had never actually been an official celebration.

When people wanted to fight and celebrate... what better way to do that than a fighting tournament? All of his attendants might call him old or nostalgic, but he couldn't remember the last time Legion had hosted such an event, and he kind of missed those things too. He smiled to himself, even as he viewed his schedule for the rest of the evening.

He'd have to talk to Thomas about this.

X X X X X

Speaking of Thomas...

The other Master of Legion gazed upwards, the Grand Nuage wondrous even in the repair bay. Its golden figurehead sparkled magnificently, the repairmen having polished it zealously once it was repaired. The hull she flew on was nearing completion and what scars that were left were ready to be covered by paint. It had taken a lot of effort, but the proud Guardians had done more than their fair share to get their base up and running as soon as possible. The guardians, however, weren't the only ones.

Ashe lay snoring on a nearby pile of crates, her silver hair covered in grease and splayed across her features. Model A hovered nearby.

"That girl's working a lot harder than she should, given her condition."

Thomas turned, surveying the Model ZX man as he came into sight. He too was covered in gunk, a portion of his hair sticking out at an odd angle and soaked in oil.

"If it wasn't for little A there, we'd probably have had to drag her back off to the hospital just to keep her from hurting herself."

Thomas nodded knowingly. The youngest biometal turned, facing Vent as if speaking to him. He laughed. The Master looked at Vent, "What was that about?"

"It was just something he said, about how having to be her morale support would be a lot easier if she didn't try so hard to put herself onto life support," Vent grinned.

"She is indeed a very determined youth. Where would we be without her, and Grey too..."

Vent's face darkened for a brief moment, "I'm not sure I'd like to think about that." As suddenly as the emotion had appeared, it disappeared, and the Guardian commander was left his usual, chipper self. The pair returned their gazes to the guardian ship, a respectful silence permeating the air.

Thomas broke the silence, "She really is a wonderful ship."

"Prairie would have loved to see her like this. I've modified her a bit, you know," Vent replied absently.

Thomas peered sadly at Vent. He knew all too well what had happened with Prairie, the former Guardian Leader. An attack by a minor Raider faction, who'd held a Model W core, had managed to strike her down just before the ZX pair arrived. Despite that, she had survived the ordeal. She could have survived 'til the next day, too, but...

Thomas raised his head to stare at the great ship, his eyes glazed over with memory.

_He entered the room, the medical wing of the Guardian base, with Mikhail at his side. Albert was also there, hidden in the background. His face, unlike the other two, showed no emotion, as it had always been with the enigmatic man. However, it was bowed with respect, his serene eyes shadowed. Mikhail was not so closed, being the most honest and open man in Legion as some said. The poor Master's face was creased with sorrow, tears ready to spring from behind his eyes._

_Thomas himself was somewhere between the two, his face distraught but not a shudder of his frame or a glisten of moisture in his eyes betraying him entirely. If Albert was the enigmatic scholar and Mikhail the honest old man, then he was right between the two, a proud warrior, not showing his tears, but not hiding his emotion._

_This distress was well justified. In the bed of the medical wing, surrounded by her weeping Guardians, lay the only being alive that they knew of that could attest to being older than even the Masters of Legion. The attack from earlier was already a well known fact. But what was not well known was that the leader of the Greatest vigilante group ever had not died in the attack._

_No, she had chosen to die later, on her own terms._

"_Please, reconsider!" bleated a thin girl, her brown hair in a disarray. Aile._

"_I've made my choice, and you all know this," smiled Prairie as she once again attempted to console her flock. "I've lived a long, good life, one much longer than regulated and allowed by Legion's laws. Speaking of Legion, I am honored that you all have come, Masters."_

"_No, it is our honour, Lady Prairie. For you, who are older than wiser than even us three, to have requested us by your deathbed, is a request that none of us would dare refuse," spoke Albert._

Thomas was momentarily removed from his memory at the thought of Albert. That lying, cheating, evil son of a... but, as he recalled, if there was ever a time in his life when he'd seemed genuinely cowed, humble and honest, it had been that time. And how could he blame him? Prairie had always had an aura of something ancient and beautiful about her, as if she had known both the best and worst of history and lived through it all with nothing more than a smile to keep her going. Even Albert had respected her utterly. She represented to them, to everyone, the spirit of a leader, the determined soul of humanity itself as it strove to improve itself and that around it for the better. Albert may have hated the world for what it was, but he respected her for having done whatever she could to fight for what she believed in, despite whatever trials had come. Prairie was the epitome of faith, fighting for what one believed in.

And now...

_And now she lay, dying, in a bed. Thomas couldn't believe it. Everything that she stood for, that he knew she stood for, was in jeopardy somehow. As if the death of this one woman to mere raiders was some unspeakable sin against humanity._

_But that she chose to die herself? On purpose?_

_He leveled his gaze at her, one that people compared to the powerful glare of a lion, and yet felt at that moment as though he were no more than a lost, confused kitten._

"_Why?"_

_The simple question, unspoken by anyone else, reflected what was on all their minds. The room as as silent and heavy as a grave, full of regret and loss. Yet, despite all that, she smiled. She _smiled_._

"_Because it is my time."_

_That simple sentence, alone in it authority, demanded utmost attention from even the three governors of the entire world._

"_I've lived on this earth for well over a lifetime, if not two or three. I was born in a horrible era, and watched as it, and the heroes in it, disappeared into dust, which blew away to reveal a small, delicate bud. I watched those remaining from that desolate time nurse that small, shattered flower into the glorious bloom of peace. I watched, and then I participated, to strengthen that peace into what it is today. Now that the Model W is gone, I'm... no longer needed. I've been blessed with more time than so many others have ever had. I've played my part on this great stage we call life. But, to remain on that stage forever would be meaningless. You can only play a role so long... It is time. It is _my _time, to pass on that role to those more able to take it. It's my time to return to watching the world pass, and to take a rest from which I'll never return. I've seen people greater than me, who'd lived longer than me, do the same. Whether by choice, in a glorious climax of blood and metal, or in a most unexpected and tragic way. In a manner of speaking, they're the same I suppose._

_Aile, Vent... everyone, do not grieve. I've loved my life, every second of it, no matter how much I thought it was going to end in the next second, or it was never going to end at all. I've been blessed, that I've been able to live beside you all and watch you grow. All of you, you're more than capable of taking up this role which I am about to leave behind. Thank you, everyone. It means so much, that those I love and cherish will be able to take up my burden."_

_And with that, the illustrious leader rose, facing the doorway. No one moved or spoke as she stood there, in what they knew would be the final moments of her life, stronger and prouder and more beautiful than ever before despite the remnants of the Raider's attack that bled heavily at her side. Her eyes held the final determination of a great warrior, staring down what he knew would be his end with a smile._

_Mikhail squeezed out a final request, through heaving lungs, "Prairie... when you leave, no one shall know. You are the only one who has any recollection of what happened during the blank period. When you go..." it hung in the air, and the Master did not need to finish, for everyone knew the rest of that sentence instinctively in their hearts._

No one will remember history.

_And again, Prairie smiled. This time, however, it was with a grave sadness that sung of the despair of ages. It was an unspoken, unspeakable, tragedy that draped heavily over her shoulders and her heart, one that reflected through her eyes and finally revealed the world-weary part of her soul that her usual demeanor hid, that she herself had thought gone long ago._

"_There are hints for those who seek it, and know where to look," she said, "But be warned, Mikhail. It is as I have said before._

Some things are better left unknown_."_

_And then she left._

_Everyone stood still, as if time itself had stopped._

_Then Vent and Aile, who had been crouched next to her bed, sprung into action. This sparked a reaction in the rest, who had felt, even if only for a moment, that time had well and truly ceased its eternal pace. They all left the room, hurrying through the halls, until they came to the door to the teleportation chamber._

_As the door opened, they had managed a single glimpse of Praire, one last view of a woman who had impacted them all so much._

_She was smiling again, a gleeful, happy smile the likes of which had never been seen before and would never been seen again. It was filled with the joy that a person feels when their hopes and dreams have finally been realized, and even moreso, passed onto another generation and for all time. It was the happiness when one comes from the worst of their lives and has finally arrived at the very best._

_She smiled. She smiled at _them_. And she spoke, the last words anyone alive would ever hear from her again._

"_Thank you. Thank you all, for everything."_

_Then, she disappeared. The transporter had worked, and she was well and truly gone._

_Everyone stared._

_It was Albert who finally had the courage to speak._

"_So ends an era."_

_Everyone looked to him, his solemn gaze filled with some unspoken promise from deep within, one prompted by Prairie, not by Prairie herself, but by Albert to himself from the depths of his heart and beliefs._

_He gazed directly at Vent and Aile, the strangest, strongest determination held within, and spoke with a voice that sent a shiver up the spines of all who were in attendance. _

"_Here begins one anew."_

_And that was it._

_But, no, it wasn't quite. The time had come, one week later, when Albert had finally decided to make sure that nothing had happened to the body. She had traveled to the frozen Area F, where it had been reputed that the founder of the guardians had died as well. It seemed fitting, really. But when the search team arrived there, they'd found nothing. No mechaniloids, no body, no signs of life or death at all. No ships, raider or otherwise, had been around the area at all in the past month, and only one life signs had been tagged by the satellites as having been there. Prairie had entered the area, and in the exact location she had stopped moving, there was nothing. Only a small depression in the snow showed any evidence at all._

_She had simply vanished._

_Prairie's death had been as mysterious as her early life. No one knew where she, leader of the Guardians and beloved of everyone, had ended up. Her origins and her last resting place were lost in the sands of time, buried beneath the serenity of snow and in the silence of eternity._

_An enigma in the beginning, an enigma at the end._

Thomas shook himself out of his reverie. Aile had appeared in the distance of the repair bay, waving at the pair of them to come to her. Vent also awoke himself, and Thomas had the suspicion that he was not the only one reminded of the former leader's final moments. Even Ashe, who had not been there, woke with a start as if having missed some terribly important event in history. As Vent and Thomas slowly walked to the female Guardian leader, she had the feeling of being watched. A quick glance around showed nothing, but for a moment she could have sworn she saw two lights atop a pile of crates stacked high into the dark recesses of the building.

She stared at that spot, but then shrugged and followed the others.

X X X

Seraph, who had finally returned to the mortal realm, glanced at the one beside him, amused. "So, does what Vent and Aile did to her strike your fancy?"

Beside him, a small pink cyber-elf, whose features were hidden in her glow, smiled. "Vent was right. I love it. Those two have done so well as leaders..."

Seraph returned the gesture, beaming, "Yes, I think you chose your replacements well. Ciel is quite proud of you, although I'm sure she's told you herself more than enough times."

"I never hear the end of it. Her and Zero, well, what part of Zero that isn't still here, have made a hobby of it. Or at least that's what I think they've done, you can never tell with that blond fussbudget. Don't tell him I said that." she giggled. Then her gaze calmed, and she stared at copy X. "You've really changed... I'm still not used to it."

"I get that a lot."

"I'm sure you do. Copy X... no, Seraph. Thank you, thank you so much, for what you did. Back then, in the snows of area F, and now, in this humble repair bay. It gives my spirit peace."

Seraph smiled. "I only did what was right. I may have had to die to learn how to do the just thing... but, with any luck, I'll get it right this time."

"You will. We _all _have faith in you," she replied.

"It means a lot to me, to hear that from you, of all people. But time grows short. Return to cyberspace. As you said before, your time is, unfortunately, over. I'll take it from here, just like Vent and Aile did."

The woman, her pink aura glowing majestically, gave the Grand Nuage on last, meaningful gaze before she faded back into her eternal rest.

"I really do love what they've done with her."

The figurehead of the Grand Nuage, the golden angel, seemed to stare back even as she disappeared. Her face, which Vent and Aile had painstakingly re-sculpted, now resembled Prairie in all her glory.

Seraph stared at the last sparkles of the cyber-elf's passing.

"Good-bye, Allouette."

X X X X X

Omega lay in bed, tired from his recent ordeals with Legion and crazy pseudoroids. He glared around the room in annoyance, searching for something to distract him from his earlier humiliation. Something menial... ah, there. Getting up, he walked to the window to open it for some fresh air. The late evening stars sparkled dully against the blackness engulfing them, a stark contrast to the gleaming, vigorous neons of the busy city below. Vehicles whizzed past each other on the street below, only the occasional sound of a muffled honk drifting up to his high position in the main building of Legion. Streetlights cast a glow upon the few people scurrying down below, small as specks of dust from his vantage point. It was a calm, slightly eerie quiet that resulted, the main orchestra of the night being the lonely wind howling a soft dirge past his window. The God of Destruction took a rare moment to enjoy this peace, his hands just able to fit on the small ledge between the window's bottom and the wall.

He drew back, savoring the night air, before something caught his attention. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, really. As he flexed the fingers on his hand, the very same one that he'd regenerated in an instant, a realization came to him.

The Red Demon knew he could regenerate his limbs, but he didn't remember being able to do it quite _that fast_ before..

He frowned, the action creasing his forehead. Was this another result of that mysterious potential system?

Resolving to try and figure the silly thing out once and for all, he closed his eyes. Delving again into his own data, he found some new data, but overall, not much changed. After briefly glancing at the descriptions for his new EX Skills, he set them aside and went after the real problem at hand.

Half an hour of hitting his head against that wall, he still hadn't figured it out. Whether through confusing program codes or sheer complexity of design, he couldn't make head nor tail of anything his inquiries into the potential system resulted in. Snarling at the nuisance his own systems were giving him, Omega stomped around his room. He murmured to himself, "I wish my own programming would make it easier to understand what the hell this potential system is. I don't remember being able to regenerate my arms like that, not to mention the EX combos. What the hell is next, huh? If I understood this stupid thing better, I could take advantage of it, not get caught off guard by it constantly!" A few more rounds around the room still didn't help him. He stopped pacing, gave up, and sat on the bed with a pronounced _whump_.

"Good lord, All I wanted to figure out was what the stupid potential system is..." he pouted.

For some reason, at that very moment, the system vexing him started up again.

_Potential system upgrade commencing. A.I. Suggestion integrated. Initializing..._

Omega scowled, "Oh great, now it's mocking me."

"_Potential system upgrade completed. Action labeled "mocking" currently designated invalid action._

Omega started, confused. "Wait... is one of my programs _talking _to me? That's it, I'm nuts, I've got a voice in my head." He flopped back onto the bed with, very annoyed or frustrated from trying to figure out his own programming. Or both. Omega sighed at his condition. Overtired from the earlier fight with the temporal bird, agitated at himself because of his programming, and currently talking to said programming (or something similar, hell if he knew), which was undoubtedly a bad sign. Things just kept getting better, didn't they?

However, his potential system was continuing, so he resigned himself to the bizarre conversation with it.

"_Informational input; program subroutine labeled 'voice in your head' incorrect. Program subroutine unlabeled, more accurately describable as minor upgrade of main Potential System program usable for the purpose of surveying upgrades and explicating potential system upgrades to A.I. Program 'Omega'. Unlabeled program was created to modify and ensure stability of Potential System upgrades,_" it finished.

"So what, you're saying that, with all those upgrades this potential system is making to MY body, it decided to make a _separate_ program to monitor its own progress? What, am I not good enough to double check what's happening to my own body or something?" he snapped at it, completely forgetting how ridiculous he might have looked yelling at himself.

"_Program subroutine was created to manage backlog of potential system modifications caused by malware file W31L-Obd2. File W31L-Obd2 interrupted upgrade process of potential program, overriding physical upgrades. The Potential System routine would attempt compensation for lack of results via more upgrades, which would be overrided as well. A feedback loop was developed accidentally. Once the Malware file W31L-Obd2 was removed, a new subroutine was necessary for analyzing potential system upgrades to ensure compatibility_."

Omega sighed, muttering aloud to the program, "So basically, my potential system tried to upgrade me when things weren't working, but Weil's program stopped it, so it just kept on trying the upgrades anyways. Then, when it finally could work again, it had to develop a subroutine to make sure the upgrades were actually gonna work? That still doesn't entirely explain what the Potential System is or how it works, but I guess it'll have to do."

The program apparently took that as a question, as it attempted a reply, _"Program labeled Potential system-"_

"Okay okay, you know what, just forget it! Forget I said anything! It's bad enough that I'm talking to a voice in my head, but one that speaks techno-babble? Gah!" he covered his eyes, massaging his temples to try to calm down. "Good lord, I'm going nuts. It wouldn't be so bad if the bloody voice in my head could talk legibly, but noooo! Is that too much to ask for? Apparently so, yeesh."

The voice in his head seemed to contemplate something for a moment. "..._Program routine labeled 'talk' undesirable_?"

"Yes."

"_Attempt to change routine? Yes/no_."

"Yes."

"_Initiating potential system upgrade."_

"Good lord not that shit again..." Omega groaned. His mind seemed to go silent, minus something that seemed like a silent buzz. Quite disgusted with the whole ordeal, Omega sat up, considered going for a walk to clear his head, and ended up just flopping back down onto the bed. He didn't have the energy as far as he was concerned. He'd almost fallen asleep when the program acted up again.

"_Subroutine installed, file name 'talk' renamed 'speech'. Initiating subroutine_."

"Good for you," he snorted sarcastically.

"_Is this easier for you to understand_?"

Omega started once again, and would have stared stupidly at the program had he been able to. Instead, for lack of a better target, he just stared at the wall.

"Wait, what? Uh, yes?" the God of Destruction was taken aback. This program, upon his asking, had actually managed to make itself easier to understand? The last time he checked, programs couldn't re-write himself, unless... the potential system. It was involved in this.

"Program, explain the Potential System using the speech subroutine," he commanded.

"_Understood. The Potential system is a system that upgrades systems that appear to be below peak operating efficiency. It rewrites and improves programs or body structures whenever possible to increase their efficiency, usually by changing your basic DNA code to suit the needed physical changes_."

Omega scrunched up his face, "Okay... I think I get it, but could you give me an example?"

"_Yes. Because you don't have your armor, your defensive abilities are down. Two possible solutions were available: either increase the strength of your basic defense system, your 'skin', or increase your regenerative abilities to compensate for the damages. Partial skin upgrades have been implemented, but too many would increase your weight and possibly cause more problems, such as when 'swimming'. The regenerative upgrade was calculated to be more useful, as exemplified during that incident with 'Oceatar'_."

"Now I get it," Omega grunted, slapping the bed as if to punctuate the statement. "The potential system, to put it bluntly, brings out my potential by increasing aspects or abilities of mine that need improvement? Such as, if I started to carry lots of heavy objects or use my sword a lot, it would make my arms stronger?"

"_Yes. It could also make your sword more powerful in that situation._"

"I'm liking the sound of this!" he grinned. He looked down at his hand once again, curling his fingers against the air.

"_Does the A.I. Program 'Omega' understand the Potential System now?"_

"Yes."

"_Then further action by the 'speech' subroutine has been deemed unnecessary. Stand-by mode initiated."_

And with that, it went quiet.

In the silence that followed, Omega grinned. Now he finally understood the extent of what that system was about! He considered the new upgrades to his programming carefully. The Potential System seemed to have created a new program designed solely to help the 'A.I. Program', him, to understand it better. He was concerned for a moment about how quickly it learned to talk to him (in a manner of speaking), but then shrugged it off. The system was obviously designed to be solely beneficial. It would correct itself if something went wrong, wouldn't it?

Then he chuckled. This potential system could almost be called a type of evolution. How ironic that it was contained in a reploid called the God of Destruction!

But, whatever. The night had darkened, and all but the most necessary of lights in the city below had been shut off. Deeming it to be very late indeed, Omega turned to his bed.

Another day over.

What would the next one hold?


	29. Maverick Mayhem

Hey guys, sorry for yet another late update. Ah, I'm worried that this chapter is... more lacking than the others for some reason. At least it's better than nothing, I hope. Merry Christmas!

* * *

Morning sun broke through the canopy, leaves scratching against each other in a gentle frenzy. Insects and mechaniloids scuttled along branches, unconcerned with the smoke rising in the distance.

The newly remodeled theme park was in trouble. Attractions were running amok, as were the mechaniloids designed to operate them. Scenery was being destroyed by the very creations that it had housed. A rhino-themed robot overturned a bus as a lion roared towards panicked civilians running away from it. Fires were starting everywhere, children screaming for their parents or vice versa.

Overseeing the whole affair was a giraffe. The pseudoroid chuffed at her handiwork, the satellite dishes on her head controlling the rampaging beasts. Park security hadn't stood a chance against a threat from inside, she mused with a smile.

Another beast roared. Oh what fun this was!

X X X X X

Sirens blared in Legion. Omega, who was brushing his hair at the time, listened curiously as an announcement sounded over the PA system. Apparently something was under attack? He regarded the information for a few moments. What the heck, why not? He was bored.

Omega left the room, following the PA's instructions as it called for any available mega men. He spotted Siarnaq rushing through the halls, promptly deciding to travel with him. Siarnaq regarded his presence with a quick glance, but the pair remained silent until they were at their destination. They were the first there, although the sounds of the others following wasn't far off. The location was the Master's meeting room, the splendid glass dome reflecting the sun brilliantly into the great hall. Thomas peered at Omega, his grizzled beard failing to hide the confused frown directed at the God of Destruction.

The red reploid countered the glare without emotion, except for a slight shrug of his shoulders, "I was curious, and bored."

Thomas ignored him afterwards, instead focusing on the mega men that were filing into the room at a speedy pace.

"As you're all here, I'll inform you of the situation. Time is of the essence," he started.

Thetis was the last in, gasping for air. He muttered to himself about the distance between the meeting room and the pools, but made no fuss otherwise.

"As you may have just seen on the news, the amusement park at area H was just attacked not long ago. Park security was unable to fend off the attackers, as the assaulting force was their own mechaniloid attractions run amok. It seems that someone is controlling them. The guardians have been made aware of the situation, and are attempting to protect survivors and put out fires. However, there are also a large amount of mechaniloids filing into the park, and the ZX mega men are hard put to keep the numbers under control. We need you mega men to help get the situation stable faster, lives are at stake. As for you," he looked pointedly at Omega, "You weren't really a part of the plan, but someone has to watch you I suppose. You will be assisting the guardians in controlling the rampaging pseudoroids, as well as attempting to rescue survivors."

As Omega grumbled his unwilling consent, he noticed a quick, almost imperceptible glance between Thomas and Siarnaq.

Well, what do you know. He really was going to be watched. Again.

A few more things were said or asked to polish off the briefing, but soon enough they ready to go to the transporter and off to the park. Before they left, Mikhail had one last thing to say.

"Make sure you find the source of the problem, and fast."

Then they were gone.

X X X

When they were transported in, the chaos was evident immediately. Safari-themed mechaniloids were running amok and attempting to destroy everything in sight, bar each other. On his second glance around, Omega noticed that more than the mechaniloids had an African appearance. Despite the damage, he noticed signs of recent renovations, including a bulldozer. A bulldozer which was conveniently set on fire shortly afterward by a dragonfly-like pseudoroid. The mega men looked at each other.

"Well, that was quick."

Said pseudoroid promptly started, jerking his vision towards them in shock. It had multiple orange-red wings which beat the air stiffly. Four arms were spread wide, flames spurting from green orbs on its wrists. More green gems were affixed to the sides of its abdomen. Another gem on its chest glowed brightly. Its long, thin antennae twitched.

"Oh bugger."

It flew off swiftly

Without skipping a beat, the party made to follow. Well, most of them. Omega was jerked backwards by a hand on his shoulder. He swiveled his head to glare at the shadow mega man preventing him from further movement.

"SUBJECT B.D.'S MISSION DOES NOT INVOLVE PURSUIT OF ASSAULTING PSEUDOROID." he stated.

Omega growled, having been cheated of a good fight, but realized that there was no argument he could make against that statement. Resignedly, he sighed, allowing himself to be led away by the shadow mega man.

It wasn't long until another group of people came into sight, mostly consisting of green-uniformed guardians and rattled civilians. Next to them, fending off a particularly dangerous looking rhino bot, was the female leader of the guardians. The rhino, on its last legs, attempted a charge at the model ZX, but was cut in half by her skilled bladework. As Siarnaq approached, she stiffened, then relaxed after identifying him.

"Oh, it's just you. Phew."

"INQUIRY; STATISTICS OF MISSION?"

Aile huffed, a reluctant grin on her face, "Doing better than we were, at least. Vent managed to spot the attacking pseudoroid not long ago, but it's darn fast. It ran off before he could do anything about it, but he did go off and chase it. Most of the lesser mechaniloids have been dealt with, but there's a lot of them and there's more appearing all the time, so it's been a hard job keeping up with it all. In a nutshell, it's a good thing you're here. But, where's everyone else?"

Omega cut in, "They're all following that pseudoroid you mentioned earlier."

Siarnaq nodded his assent as Aile grimaced, "Well, hopefully they'll be able to catch him, but... he is really quite fast. What I don't understand is why he's running away instead of attacking. Usually the pseudoroid tries to kill everything in sight and then some."

"In all fairness, mam, you'd be running away too if you had half a dozen or so mega men after you," hollered another guardian. He was a big, burly man with blue hair and a small goatee, and was currently trying to calm a survivor. His humor managed to make the small boy giggle a bit.

Aile smiled at this, muttering aloud, "Yeah, that's a good point. It concerns me though... this isn't the first time this park has been attacked." She looked to the side, her eyes slightly glazed, and Omega caught the hint of some history between her and the park. He promptly remembered that he didn't care, instead glowering at the pair.

"So, that's fine and all, but what am I to do?"

Siarnaq stared at him blankly, as per usual, but Aile showed a bit more emotion by frowning. "Well, knowing you, I would suggest looking for more survivors. With a pseudoroid running around, I would prefer to avoid sending out my guardians except in groups. However, we're having enough of a time as it is just guarding these ones here," she motioned.

"Fine by me. I didn't have anything better to do, really," shrugged Omega, and without further ado he twirled around and started marching in a random direction. Siarnaq pursued.

Ash and smoke drifted through the air, blowing against the pair with a harsh, dry keen. Fires illuminated whatever wasn't concealed in clouds of blackish smog or shone on by the seemingly out-of-place sun, winking occasionally from high above. If it wasn't for the gaudy colours and shorter styles of buildings, Omega could have sworn that he was back at the residential district from before his capture by Legion. In fact, that memory was giving him some ideas...

But first, to ditch the ninja behind him.

Several different plans milled through his head, but none of them involved being without a great deal of suspicion. It took him a while, but he'd finally figured something out when he heard a cry in the distance.

"I heard someone! Over there!" He shouted, running off in the direction of the yell.

He ran as fast as he could, hoping to outrun Siarnaq enough that he was beyond the ninja's sensory range. His knowledge of Phantom's abilities came in handy for this. After leading Siarnaq in a couple of circles and getting the lay of the park, he suddenly broke off to the right when he knew the ninja would be questioning his actions. "There! Now I've got it! They're over there!"

As he rounded a corner, he saw Siarnaq grinding to a halt far behind, having not expected the sudden turn.

Omega moved quickly. He had indeed pinpointed a survivor. After a few more tight turns at a breakneck speed, he spotted them; a child hiding behind the rubble along a lane. He didn't have a second to lose, he knew, for this to work. Omega yelped out, as if pain.

"Oi, stop! Don't you dare- Aaiigha!"

He transformed into Devilbat Ignis right then and there, and just as the girl turned to see what was going on, he'd grabbed her. She shrieked in terror as he launched himself into the air, flying up into the sky just above the alley where he had traveled down earlier. Just as he'd suspected, Siarnaq had come running right down it, hoping like heck that he hadn't just lost his charge.

"Kyeeheeheehee! I'm going to have fun with you!" he laughed triumphantly, squeezing the girl with his claws. She cried out again, this time in pain as his claws tore into her sides.

Siarnaq saw this, as he was meant to, and abruptly changed course just before he would have gone onto the lane and seen Omega missing. The ninja jumped up the side of the building, having immediately decided that the helpless girl needed more protection than some practiced mercenary. Rightly so, thought Omega: his prisoner had started bleeding a little more than was healthy.

He flapped back the way he came, making a beeline towards a ferries wheel that had warped due to the heat below. Siarnaq, jumping along the rooftops below, spared a brief glance to their destination, then sped up as much as possible. Despite him supposedly being emotionless, Omega could quite plainly see a huge amount of concern on his face for the girl.

Omega cackled, "Oh, does the mysterious ninja have a soft spot for little children? Kee hee, dearie me, perhaps he does! Too bad, so sad. She's probably an orphan now, too! But come on, she deserves to die, she couldn't even defend herself! We-eak, weaaaaaaak! Come on, people should be able to protect themselves! Weak! She was just too trusting I suppose! What, did she think you were actually going to help her? Or maybe she thought she could trust others to keep her worthless little ass outta trouble! Pathetic! Haa haa haaa!"

Omega deposited the girl on top of the ferris wheel just as Siarnaq reached the bottom. The pile of sagging metal gave a spine-tingling groan, protesting the extra weight on its delicate frame. Omega glanced down at the lower framework of the thing, which jutted out to the sky like the ribs of some great, distorted beast.

"Better get up here soon, she trusted you to help her~! Bad choice if you ask me, hee hee hee!"

Siarnaq didn't need second bidding. Something in his demeanor had changed, as if Omega had hit upon some weak spot that neither of them knew of. Fury and determination showed in his eyes as he vigorously climbed the tower of melting scrap. Omega took the hint and flew off. He looked back after he was high enough in the air, just in time to see Siarnaq reach towards the girl, and to hear the crack as the metal gave way.

He smiled. Whether or not the two survived wasn't his concern. In fact, he'd prefer if they didn't. Animal joy arose in his breast as he flew towards the forest, setting a few more rides on fire for good measure. Oh, how he loved it! Chaos and murder!

A file of mechaniloids was filtering through the trees towards the park. Omega saw it, and smiled. Well now, maybe there would be more fun to be had if he followed the group to its source...

X X X X X

Another team of guardians had arrived back at the main group when they all heard the crack. Aile looked over just in time to hear a scream as the ferris wheel fell, and shock hit her when she saw who was on top of it.

"Guardians, to the Ferris wheel!" she ordered, although it was an order she didn't need to give. They all surged as a group, the survivors coming as well. They arrived to a scene of a frighteningly large fire, and a few more survivors who had heard the scream and decided to help. All of them chipped in, attempting to douse the flames, and for a moment Aile couldn't figure out how everything had changed. But then, she thought, everyone had to at least have seen some of it. Both a mega man and a little girl were in danger here, and that had sparked courage in even the most jarred of survivors. Something had gone terribly wrong, and it took the peril of an innocent and a veteran together to bring everyone back from the brink of shock. It was a testament to the character of the people of Legion.

Finally, the fire was out enough that she could move in. Thetis and a couple of the other mega men had appeared during the rescue, having either given up on the dragonfly pseudoroid or prioritized the rescue of their comrade. The only sound was the grunting of the people working and the roaring of fire.

Aile reached the center of the tangled mass of wreckage, dreading what she might discover.

In the middle, covered by red-hot bars, was Siarnaq, seemingly crushed by the metal. He was curled up against the beams surrounding him. Aile stared, stunned... then cried out in relief when he shifted. She flung herself at the framework surrounding him, slicing off and throwing pieces of it aside despite how it burned her hands. Atlas jumped in and held up the last, largest piece, which kept the rest of the ruined construct from falling on him. Even as the pair felt the sizzle of the wreckage, Aile grabbed Siarnaq, and the little girl he clutched protectively, dragging them to safety. Atlas gave a roar of pain, then dropped the beam and jumped free when she knew the others were out of harm's way. The ferris wheel finally succumbed to its own molten weight and fell to the ground in a heap. The crowd watching them cheered.

Thetis, whose ice had held up another part of the wreck, waved his staff in the air, "I'll get that damn pseudoroid who did this! I'll kill them!" he screeched in anger, dashing away to his former route.

Siarnaq watched, exhausted and spent, his armour and skin burnt almost everywhere. His scarf was half-gone, charred away, but the other half was clutched in the tiny hands of the girl holding him like a lifeline. He patted her gently even as she nearly choked him with her grip and the others closed around him.

"Shh, shh... You're safe now. Shhh, shhhh..."

The girl cried.

X X X X X

Skeletal wings cracked and torched the air as the demonic bat flew, surveying the landscape below it. Mechaniloids were filtering in thin lines between the trees, heading towards the park. However, judging by the width of the trails they were passing on, their numbers had greatly decreased since the start of the attack. But they were still coming, so that meant that someone was still commanding them. Odd, considering the pseudoroid was in the park already... but hey, more of a challenge!

Omega flapped on, watching the landscape below as the light of day was slowly choked by smoke. It was still bright out, but an acrid haze was settling over the forest below. His keen ears picked up a strange sound off in the distance, and he directed his flight towards it. Soon he found himself above a clearing. The mechaniloids seemed thickest in the surrounding woods, but oddly stayed clear of the little field below. Sharpening his gaze, he noticed that there was a tall figure in the middle, surveying the beasts as they filed past. Satellite dishes were arrayed on its head like horns, ears swiveling around as it rotated its long neck to check on its charges. It seemed both elongated and equine. Yellow and brown splotches mottled its armour in an unusual pattern, and it was with this that Omega recognized the creature as a giraffe-based psuedoroid. A brief moment was given to strategy, but it didn't take long to realize that it was controlling the mechaniloids. Unfortunately, attacking it in the current situation seemed rather counterproductive.

Of course, he wasn't called the God of Destruction for nothing, now was he?

Numerous screeches of metallic pain rang out when he dive-bombed the forest, setting it, and the robots within it, ablaze.

The giraffe jerked towards Omega as he alighted down with a heavy_ thud_.

Wallaburn's bomb hit the ground where she had stood a moment before. She had jumped out of the way just in time.

"Ah, the model A megaman, is it? It seems you have a few new forms!" she said, her voice haughty and powerful.

Omega laughed, "I'm about to add a new one, too! Bring it, bitch!"

The pair took a battle stance, not wasting any time in sizing each other up. Omega was waiting for her to make a move, and she was returning the favor.

"Hmm, I'll take it you're Ashe then? So brutish. Very well, I am Safari the giraffroid. I must say, I'm surprised you're here. I was expecting you to be more concerned with those defenseless louts at the park, but I suppose I overestimated the ability of my mechaniloids," she smirked, "alas, it seems I am not the only one. Perish!"

As she said that, Safari dropped her head and spread her antennae wide. Powerful signals were emitted from them, and Omega was beset by mechaniloids from all sides. Most could not make it through the fire, but the more heavily armoured ones and the flying ones were having little trouble. He reverted to his own form, complete with armour, and unleashed merry hell on their ranks with a saber. It wasn't his original one of course, but the benefits of being able to regenerate his entire armour extended to his weaponry, to a degree.

To what degree though, was proven shortly afterwards.

Safari suddenly jumped in behind him, using her entire body to kick his back. Omega was caught off guard by the severity of the damage. She was two to three times as tall as he was, and used that to her advantage. His armour cracked and he was sent flying in shock. Mid-flight, he was intercepted by a pair of hummingbird mechaniloids, which exploded after diving at him. One had either particularly lucky aim or a drattably smart AI, as it'd aimed itself at his arm. He unconsciously let go of the saber, which sailed into a tree and shattered.

Omega hit the ground hard and scrambled up, teeth grinding in frustration. What was the value of being able to regenerate his armour and weapons if they were so brittle? It seemed he still had a ways to go with his new EX Combo... At this rate, he's have to undo and redo his transformation every time his weapon broke!

"_Master?_"

Omega shook his head, glaring at Safari despite his programming's interruption. "_WHAT?_" he replied angrily.

"_If that's a problem, I can fix it! You need a sword, right? Well, I'll work on making it better, but for now I can make it so that you can make one anytime! Uh, they'll still be a bit delicate, but-_"

"Is that all you have, Model A? Weak!" Safari broke in. Omega was still panting, trying to keep track of two conversations at once. It was like having a mission operator talking to you, and he wasn't really used to that sort of thing. Safari sneered, then took up her stance again. More mechaniloids appeared. "Here, I'll be nice for once! Fight something at the same level as you!"

Scores of animalian robots appeared, and Omega was hard pressed to fight them off. He tried to use a gun, but it began to crack shortly afterwards.

"Damnit, sticking to swords it is, then!" he grunted.

"_Yes, about that master. The metal you materialize is only so strong, the faster you make it, the weaker it is! Your gun won't even take its own recoil_."

"Who gave you permission to talk in the middle of a battle!" Omega yelled, getting frustrated at the voice from his own systems. Safari glanced at him oddly. A bat flapped at his head, he punched it into a tree. The internal conversation continued, Omega fighting away more and more mechaniloids even as his systems distracted him.

"O_h-oh, I am merely explaining your systems to you! I am being helpful!_"

Omega frowned outwardly, "_Not really,you're not-wait, I can materialize swords any time I want, right?_"

"_Yes._"

"_So, can I only do one at a time, or-?_"

"_No, you can technically make as many as you want, but it'll cost a lot of energy and they'll all be weak..._"

"_Heh, who cares! Unlimited blades... that works!"_

Omega grinned. Safari sensed the change in the atmosphere, tensing and staring at him with a sour expression.

"Heh, guess what? INFINITE AMMO, BITCH!" He barked. He mimicked her stance, spreading his arms out to the side. She ordered her mechaniloids to charge, even as a pair of swords appeared in his hands. Another rhino jumped, its horn ready to impale Omega, only for him to bury one of the weapons up to the hilt in the thing's brains. He let go of the sword, cracked as it was, and materialized another. One sword was thrown, another ripped open a vulture from the neck down to the tail, spilling its fluid-covered parts across his face. Two more received their ends in the form of swords thrown like spears, and that started a pattern of pin-cushioning everything that moved. Blades jutted out from eye sockets and splattered red fluids everywhere, fueling the flames and dousing ashen tree trunks. Safari had no choice but to defend herself with the bodies of her loyals. Dozens of bodies encountered hundreds of blades, and Safari was forced to command more and more of her minions away from the park and towards her adversary.

Then the flood of mechaniloids halted. The trees surrounding them were reduced to mere cinders and glowing, black logs, barely a score of robots visible amongst them. Countless bodies lay at Omega's feet, the broken remains of swords piercing them. Omega was gasping for air, doubled over in exhaustion as he glared at Safari. The satellite dishes on her head retracted, forming themselves into orbs to rest.

"That's a rather unorthodox battle-style, even for a Model A Mega Man," she commented.

"_I_ did _warn you about the energy cost, master_."

Omega growled, regaining his stature as his twin cores were finally able to catch up.

On the other side of the clearing, Safari had stood to her full height, glaring down at her foe before her. "Come to think of it, why use the Model ZX transformation so much... wait, that doesn't look like the ZX. Ah..." she sighed, "I wonder who that was, then? Shouldn't matter I suppose."

Safari stomped the ground, then charged at Omega. He was momentarily taken aback, but managed to dodge the tackle. She kept running, finally skidding to a halt in the distance, where she turned around and executed a powerful jump towards him. He dodged, but she continued to jump around the arena in an attempt to crush him. Picking up one of his damaged swords, he threw it at her. Its unstable core exploded after it hit, causing twice the original damage.

She was knocked out of the air. The red demon tried to get close for a finishing move, but she had opened up her satellites again and called a couple of the mechaniloids over to cover for her. He jumped back at the same time he noticed that their numbers had increased again. Omega scowled. He had to finish this quick, or it could go on forever!

With that train of thought, he began charging, accumulating the power in his arms. Mechaniloids tried to attack him, but he focused on dodging their attacks and getting close to Safari. She was again jumping around, then decided to try kicking him away when she realized that he was being rather insistent. It was a mistake.

Omega punched the ground with both fists, hollering in triumph as his giga crush pelted the landscape with laser beams. Safari was stood, stock still, her head outstretched and neck filled with holes. She fell over with a crash, the gap in her skull smoking and releasing sparks.

"Ha ha haa! Now who's pathetic! You couldn't fight on your own at all!" Omega grinned.

The giraffroid, against all odds, started to pick herself off the ground, twitching and jerking even as her core overloaded and the remnants of her brain ignited, "Heeeeeehhh... haaaaaaaaahhh..! I was... never meant to... fight... I was a tool... to command them." she grated, "But with my... last breath... with my last command... I'll doom you!"

Her body flopped to the ground, internal combustions and chain reactions causing numerous explosions in her corpse.

"Come with me to _hell_!"

Omega watched her die blankly, then grinned. He absorbed the DNA as it floated away from her death site, a gentle glow drifting serenely, in contrast to the miniature warzone he had created surrounding them.

"Hell? HAH! Where do you think I came from from, eh?"

Just then, a sound interrupted his gloating. A small horde of robots had appeared, far more than he could handle easily in his current condition. Omega grimaced.

"Oh great, not again..."

They lunged.

Once again, Omega was forced to materialize weapon after weapon to defend himself, although he was being much more conservative than last time in order to minimize his energy usage. Numerous mechanic beasts perished namelessly to his blades, but where one went down, there was another to take its place almost immediately. Omega was starting to feel the pressure. He could handle it, of course, but it was tiresome all the same. That, and the longer he held up the forces here, the more likely someone would come and find him.

Not something he wanted, really.

A bat fell to the ground, its face torn in two just above the jaw, and a grasshopper was thrown into the maw of a jaguar. The mechaniloid exploded, bringing down the pair. He stabbed another grasshopper, and threw it and his blade at another rhino when he realized that the weakened blade was stuck. It exploded in the rhino's face, but the thing ignored any pain from the attack and kept up its charge. Omega jumped to the side, holding his other blade to the side as it missed him by inches. Its side now split open, it fell to the ground, its innards spilling freely over the clearing and proving too slippery for a tank-like hippo waddling in from behind. A toucan screeched in his ears.

"_This is proving to be quite a cumbersome fight, isn't it Master?"_ piped up the voice.

Omega scowled, "Alright, right here, we are setting down some rules. Don't talk unless I ask you to, or unless you_ really_ have to say something important, kapeesh? You're distracting me! Since when did you get an attitude, anyways?" he grunted as he swung a penguinoid overhead.

"_Ah, well, it's not really an attitude, per say. Revision of the 'speech' protocol showed that it'd be easier to understand what's being said if there was a 'personality' to speak the words, otherwise inconsistencies would occur in the speech pattern."_

"Are you telling me that my potential system developed a fucking AI!" Omega shrieked.

"_N-no no no! Nothing so complicated! The program developed to bolster the 'speech' program is just a basic program, it's not very complicated at all. Maybe on the level of a mechaniloid, really. It's just specialized in speech, that's all."_

"So it _sounds_ smart, but it isn't?" he questioned suspiciously. God of Destruction or not, he really didn't like where the conversation had been going.

"_Precisely! You needn't be so worried, the potential program is solely for your benefit. If there were any sort of malware accidentally created, you can be sure that revision of the program would detect the abnormalities and delete or alter it immediately. For instance, during your rest last night, another of Weil's obedience programs had been detected, but it was left intact due to its nature."_

Swinging his sword through another robot's face, Omega started at the news and was nearly hit by a stray shot from a mettaur, "_WHAT_! Why was the program left? Get rid of it! And while you're at it, either shut up or stop making my job so difficult! I'm fighting a miniature army here!" The red demon snarled as yet another stupid mechaniloid tried to attack him. "I mean, they're not even people! They're not bleeding properly, it's no fun at all!" Stupid robots, stupid potential-!

"_Ah, master, that's very inadvisable! This particular obedience program was made by Weil ages ago, it is the one responsible for keeping the Maverick virus in your systems obsolete!"_

Omega winced. "Okay, maybe not destroy that then." After all, he wasn't sure whether or not he was immune to it...

"_No master, I'm afraid you're not immune, not entirely. But, ah, I _could_ solve a couple of problems in one go here..."_

"Who gave you permission to read my mind?"

"_Ah, sorry."_

A batton bone was smashed into a tree.

"_Anyways, if you wished, I could attempt to make an EX Combo to deal with these mechaniloids. And it would deal with the virus permanently too, so no need for Weil's program!"_

Omega took a moment to think it over. But, his intense hatred of anything Weil-related made the decision an easy one.

"Go for it."

A hummingbird mechaniloid darted in. It exploded on the ground where he'd been but moments before. Another swarm of Bee rockets swooped in, and were promptly slashed to pieces, as were some leafy moths that attempted to obscure his vision. The hippo-robot from earlier had cleared the patch of slick guts, opening its mouth and charging a beam. Omega backflipped onto its head, snapping its jaws shut while jabbing a sword into one eye, through the skull, and out the other eye. One lengthy leap cleared him from the radius of the resulting explosion just in time.

"_Got it, I'm finished master_!"

"Than tell me what to do already!"

And in less time than it took to blink, the data for the combo was in hid head. He stayed still for a moment to process it, then began to charge the energy necessary.

"This had better work... _MAVERICK MAYHEM_!" he roared, imitating Safari's outstretched pose from earlier. A dark sphere of energy radiated out in a total-area damage style attack, darkening the atmosphere with malicious data within a ten meter radius. Dozens of mechaniloids were hit by the attack, their eyes beginning to flash red and their movements growing glitchy at best. Then with a sudden, wild abandon they betrayed their comrades, flinging themselves with brutal instinct at their startled allies.

Omega breathed heavily, surveying his work as it ran rampant around him. "So, this unleashes the maverick virus on anything around me? Isn't that counter-productive to my health...?"

"_It's alright- it's an invalidated form of the original virus. The actual virus itself is not contagious. That's why the technique takes so much energy-the virus has to be manually transmitted. It uses a combination of Safari, Ejen and Scorzon's technique to infect a host within a certain distance. It might not work on more sophisticated mechaniloids, and will definitely not work on reploids, as they have more sophisticated immune systems. If it can infect a host's neural systems, they're a goner, but it can cause the rest of their systems to glitch a bit even if it can't get that far._"

Omega nodded, "Good to know. Anyways, I should head off I think. I'm tired enough as it is."

He jumped up a tree, dashing along the branches to safety as the last of the revolting mechaniloids were taken out by their peers. A series of tree-hopping began before he'd turned back into Ignis and escaped to the skies.

Oh man, was flying ever useful.

X X X

After he returned to the park, Omega flew in behind a smoldering piece of renovating equipment before he transformed back into his own form, safely out of sight. He neglected his armour for obvious reasons. However, there was the slight problem of clothing... transforming, quite frankly, wreaked havoc on his wardrobe. Looking around from behind his hiding spot, he managed to spot a charred souvenir shop. Hoping for the best, he made a mad dash to get there. Inside was mostly a lost cause, but some objects had managed to survive the worst of the blaze, including a pair of pants with one leg burnt off up to knee height. That being the extent of the salvageable clothing, Omega took it and left the shop.

As he meandered back to the main plaza of the park, he worked on an alibi for his disappearance. He figured it would help his case a lot by looking charred and beat up, something which was solved by a quick dive into the nearest burnt-down building. After he was thoroughly covered in ash, he figured he was good, and his story would likely stand.

In the distance, he heard the mega men before he saw them. Thetis and Aeolus were dashing around, surveying the grounds for more survivors. Omega hid under a sign, slashing its supports as well as his own leg for good effect.

Thistis hollered as he came around the corner, "Oi! Anyone there? Did we miss anyone?"

_BANG._

The sign fell on Omega, who cried out in pain for good measure. He needn't have bothered, really. Aeolus and Thetis had both started at the noise and had come to investigate.

Omega gasped theatrically as the pair came towards him, acting out a drama of misery from underneath the sign. The ice mega man swore and pulled the sign off to the side as Aeolus helped him to his feet.

"You! There you are, are you alright?"

"Do I look fine, jackass?" he snapped. As he stood, he made sure to favor his slashed leg (even though it really didn't hurt _that_ much).

"Yup, he's good," Thetis commented.

Aeolus frowned, "We were looking everywhere for you and other survivors. Siarnaq told us that you'd had a run-in with some bat pseudoroid, how did you get over here?"

"After that damn bat got the drop on me, I'd decided to try and find a place to recover. Burns aren't very fun for healing though," he grunted. It wasn't all a lie, he thought, burns really were more difficult to heal, what with all the burnt flesh in the way of the new flesh. "Anyways, it seems that wasn't the end of my bad luck, I had one ride drop on me and I had to wriggle my way out of there. And then that sign dropped on me, as you saw. Not my lucky day, apparently."

"Regardless, we need to get you back to the main area. We may have caught the dragonfly, but that bat disappeared on us," Aeolus noted.

"I'd somehow figured that," Omega said as they left, grinning when no one was looking.

X X X X X

It was late night when the mess from the park was finally cleared up. The Legionnaires returned to their homes, weary, grumpy, and covered in charcoal and ash. The only one who seemed to have any sort of good spirits left was Omega, which the others presumed was just from feeding off of their own misery.

Flopping down in bed, Omega stared up at the ceiling, recapping the events from earlier. A thought bounced around in his head, and he called upon it.

"Hey... voice-in-my-head thingy... you there?"

"_Of course, master_. _How may I be of service?_"

"I was just thinking, you know, if I want to call you up, calling you 'the voice in my head' is sort of long-winded."

"_You could just summon me with a thought, master, you don't actually have to say 'voice in your head'_ ."

"That might not work so well if I'm focused on something, like a fight. It's still pretty long, after all. Tell you what, things are kinda going viral in there with the way the potential system keeps upgrading itself... why don't I call you that, Viral? It makes it simpler for me."

"_As you wish, master_."

"Very well then, it's settled. I am going to sleep. Viral, you are dismissed."

And with that he lost consciousness, slipping into the realm of slumber.


	30. Sly as a fox! The kitsuroids return!

Hey guys, uh, Happy late Valentine's day I guess? Or early Easter... Uhm... not sure this is the most appropriate fic for such a happy-go-lucky holiday, but it really needed updating anyways, so... Here ya go! Late as always!

...*goes in the corner of shame* I really need to update more frequently...

Enjoy!

* * *

Omega was dreaming.

All in all, it was a pleasant dream. Blood here, gore there, with screams and everything else that usually accompanied a massacre. Omega was enjoying himself, to him, it was like a lullaby of death. The one unusual thing about this dream, however, was the fact that there was a shadow following him the whole time.

Not just any shadow, either. It was a carbon copy of him created from a black mist, or at least that's the best way he could describe it. He knew he should have thought it odd, but for some reason it seemed perfectly natural to him. Regardless of that little hitch, the shadow never did anything against him, simply following him around quietly like an obedient pet or servant while he had his merry way with the civilians. It was only during a lull in the bloodshed, when the street he was on was oddly quiet, that the shadow spoke.

"Master, time to wake up!"

And so he did.

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Omega was mildly startled when someone began banging on his door. It was a messenger from the Masters, and after quickly relaying the order to report to them once he was ready, they left.

Omega yawned widely, stretching luxuriously. He had absolutely no intention of rushing to get there, and seeing as there was nothing urgent about the messenger he could let the Masters wait a bit for him to get there. As he prepared himself with a morning ritual of hair grooming and such, he remembered his dream and, curious, called up Viral.

The mental incarnation showed up immediately, chipper as usual, "You called, Master?"

"Yes," Omega directed mentally, "I was just wondering about last night. That was your doing, correct?"

"Correct. Observation and calculations of data showed that you performed best when well rested, and that showing a 'vision' of battle would relax you as well as keep your skills honed."

"It _was_ rather pleasant. I suppose that you were the shadow then?"

"Correct Master. I will always be there to serve!"

"Very good. You're dismissed."

Viral left just as Omega finished his preening, and after quickly slipping on an appropriate outfit he left his room, locking it before leisurely strolling to the Master's chamber.

Once the elevator opened, he noticed a commotion at the thrones. He wisely quieted down, having not been noticed yet, and perked his ears to listen.

Atlas and Aeolus were frowning at each other, Aeolus huffing imperiously, "You obviously saw wrong then. That-"

"I told you, the reason I didn't let you see the corpse was because you'd have thrown your uppity little guts up all over the place. I _told _you, I don't know how many times, that the psuedoroid that attacked the city that one day was dead, and you can be _damn_ sure that there's someone in the cleanup department that agrees with me-"

"All evidence to the contrary, seeing as that pseudorid was _at the fair _the other day, _very much_ alive, and _adding_ to the general chaos might I add!"

"Oh, there you are," Mikhail interrupted. Omega shifted slightly, giving the pair of Mega Men a mocking grin.

"Yup, here I am. Now pray tell what could be _so_ important to have these two bickering like a married couple?"

"Retract your comment at once!"

"Shut up asshole!"

Snickering at the reaction from the two mega men, the God of Destruction turned questioningly to the Master. Mikhail sighed, shaking his head before replying, "We were just reviewing some data from the amusement park incident. It seems that the fiery bat pseudoroid involved was reported dead some time ago, after having tried to steal a generator a while back. It was an event that you maybe familiar with, I remember that Hunter's camp was involved after all. Remember?"

Omega nodded, "Yeah, I saw it, but it flew away shortly after," he lied smoothly.

"Yeah, flew away and _died_, I saw the corpse myself, and what was left of it was brought back for investigation."

"That can't have been the same pseudoroid that you saw, since it was very much alive when it started burning down the park!"

"I tell you, it was dead!"

"So what, there's two of the same pseudoroid or something!"

As the squabbling continued, Mikhail shook his head, "Whatever it means, it can't bode well. Nonetheless, we'll just have to keep our eyes out for it and hope for the best."

Omega made a mental note on that. Well drat, he wouldn't be able to fly with Ignis any time soon... he winced, he'd just grown fond of flying too! The only other flying form he had was Temporoc, and transforming into that one would be akin to suicide. Or at the very least, waving around a sign saying "I did it" at a murder investigation while wearing a bulls-eye for kicks. No, not the smartest idea...

Viral spoke up, "Uhm, I _may _be able to help with that."

Omega nodded to Viral, or rather to himself if anyone were to look, then directed an affirmative to go ahead. After a quick note that it would take some time, of course, Viral went silent, presumably working on the problem already.

Mikhail raised an eyebrow at Omega's odd behavior, but gave it no heed as he addressed the mercenary further. "Well, regardless of that, it's not really your concern at the moment. Now, what I'd actually like for you to do is just a quick investigation. We've heard that there may be some raider activity in the ruined city district from earlier, oddly enough. We're not so convinced about it, but nonetheless it should be investigated just in case. You, as well as Black and White, are going to be sent to investigate the area and see if the claims about the raiders are true."

"Understood," replied Omega. Black and White had appeared during the briefing, and Omega was mildly surprised to note that they both held weapons of some sort. He smirked to himself, amused at the thought that White wasn't quite as useless as he thought she was. The trio left the Master's chamber, intent on the transporter room. Along the way the brother and sister pair started up a conversation with each other, and it wasn't long before they tried to involve Omega. He politely declined.

All was well and quiet as the group stepped into the transporter, bound for the burnt remains of the residential district.

X X X

Upon arrival, the first thing noticeable was the silence. Even though it had been a residential district, no apparent efforts had been made to rebuild it. Ashes still drifted in the air, clinging to clothing as a strong breeze howled through the skeletal remains of the buildings. The sky was moderately clear, but clouds were rolling in. A storm was coming.

Omega looked down from the sky, "Let's get this over with. I'd rather be finished before it starts raining."

"No remorse for the many people that die here? Huh, he's as ruthless as they come," Black joked. The man turned on his scythe, a weapon that even Omega had to admit looked intimidating (to others, of course).

"Hah, says the one smiling like an idiot with a grim reaper's weapon."

Black's smirk dropped off his face and he winced. Apparently Omega had hit a sore spot. Not that he cared to know what it was, really.

"I'm sure we've all... seen our share of death. Nothing... that we should dwell on," consoled White. She smiled sweetly at her brother as his grin returned.

"Yeah, you're right sis. Sorry, moment of weakness. Anyways, the place is pretty big, how do you think we should go about exploring it?"

"Split up, obviously," Omega grunted before abruptly turning on his heel and walking away from the pair.

"Uhm, don't you think it... would be safer to travel... in a group?"

The red demon shrugged callously, "Pff, not like there's anything here except a few burnt corpses. If you're scared though, just stick with your brother. Later."

With that he left. Pandora and Prometheus looked at each other resignedly, but marched in a different direction to which Omega had gone. Danger or not, they weren't getting separated again for anything. Although...

"How are we supposed to find him again after?"

Prometheus shrugged, "Beats me. But, eh, he'll show up when he's good and ready I guess. By the way, you're starting to get all flustered and shy again. C'mon, I thought you got over that?"

Blushing profusely, she responded, "W-well, it's... he, well... It's just..."

Prometheus looked confused, "Oh, did he do something to you?"

"No! No, I... well..." she looked away, beet red.

Prometheus cocked an eyebrow, "...Seriously? That guy?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"I'm blunt, Pandora, not oblivious."

"Oblivious to what?"

"The fact that you like... Oh, I get it. I get it," he cackled, "I get it. Heh heh, _you're_ the oblivious one here."

"I am not oblivious! I just don't know what you're trying to say!"

"Geeze Pandora, of all the guys you... you just be careful with him, okay?"

"Uwah, brother...she replied, confused.

Prometheus chuckled at Pandora, "Okay, I get it, c'mon let's get back to searching." But to himself, he thought, "So, you really did like him a lot, huh sis...? I'll be watching him then. For your sake and his, he'd better not try anything, or else..."

And so, oblivious to the truths the other knew, the pair continued searching.

X X X

Omega watched the sky warily, enjoying his solitude but cautious about the possibility of rain. His searching, up until this point, had proved futile. He was of a serious mind to head back and report nothing in the sector, but he knew he had to be thorough in case something got through. Not that he particularly cared about the security of Legion, but if something slipped past and he got heat for it he'd be in trouble. Well, more trouble. Sighing in frustration, he considered methods for speeding up his search, but coming to no practical conclusions. It seemed, really, like there was no way to speed up the search. Or, rather, it seemed like there was no way to search for what he was pretty sure was absolutely nothing. Regardless, he continued the mission.

So it was with a bit of shock that he heard some movement inside a building not five minutes later.

Instantly he dropped into a crouch, making his way slowly towards the noise. It took some effort, but Omega managed to slip inside a building and around numerous obstacles. The clouds had moved in overhead in the sky, but that wasn't visible inside the wreckage (probably one of the only ones with a roof left he thought grudgingly). Following the sound led him deeper into what was probably an abandoned warehouse or low income apartment. Eventually he was forced to creep down some stairs, leading into a near pitch-black basement filled with collapsed building material. Hiding behind a piece of rubble, he surveyed the room around him.

It was very large, perhaps the size of a small football field, and open because most of the walls had collapsed during the fire. Dust and ash clogged the stagnant air and coated every flat surface available. In the middle of the room a large shaft of light bore down through a hole, floor materials and metal beams leaning into the opening as if a large, round object had blasted through the ceiling. Below the hole was a pile of wreckage, likely from the collapse, well lit because of the light rays. Beyond that, however, was murky darkness.

And in the darkness, something moved.

Omega stiffened, straining his senses. Whatever it was... no, there was more than one of them. It was only the faintest sounds that gave them away, such as the tiny scratch of claws in loose dirt, but he heard them all the same. Omega frowned, because that level of noise was the same level as his own breathing. Whomever had detected him was very keen with stealth, and him staying in one spot may not be the best option. He cautiously made his way around the debris, letting the ash muffle his footsteps and his superior sight letting him distinguish the barest of shapes around him. A sound came from behind him and he whirled.

"SEEEENSSSEEEEEEIIIII!"

_Wham!_

Omega found himself flat on his back with a rather happy pseudoroid hugging him and wagging its three tails at him.

"Guys, come on out, it's just sensei!"

With a surprised snort, the ice kitsune Morukori trudged out of the gloom, his arms crossed in amusement as he beheld the scene before him.

"Harukori, what have we told you about keeping your composure?"

Harukori jumped to her feet, lighting her three tails on fire to dispel the shadows surrounding them. "With all due respect, screw you, it's sensei! Rules don't apply to sensei!"

The sand dancer Kirukori joined the group while Omega extracted himself from the floor. Morukori huffed indignantly, complaining about a lack of respect while Omega gazed around at the trio.

"Well, you lot certainly have grown," he noted as he dusted himself off.

"All thanks to you really," replied the sand dancer, a few electric shocks sparking off his tails. "Because of your training, we've become some of the best and survived more than our fair share of missions, which is more than some others can say for themselves really. Actually, I've heard that Legion is quite upset at some of our feats, apparently we're rather a pain for them."

"Sounds like you're doing good. Well, more proof that I can do a job well, I suppose," Omega finished.

The ice kitsune nodded, "True. Very true."

Her tails still twitching happily, the ash dancer Harukori trotted closer to Omega, "Yeah, you really are something. Boss won't stop talking about you. You know... he really likes how good you are on missions. He'd probably pay you well, or whatever, if you joined us."

Omega sighed, "No can do I'm afraid. Legion has an eye on me, hell, I'm right smack dab in the center of it. And like I said, I don't want to take sides."

"So why are you at Legion?"

"Trying to keep a low profile. Divert any suspicion, you know-"

"Shush!" Morukori stiffened, his ears perked. Silence. Then-

"...I believe we have a visitor..."

X X X X X

_Earlier..._

After having spent most of the day searching, Pandora was tired and a bit sore. Her brother shared the sentiment and was grumpily throwing aside wreckage as if it had something hidden underneath. The pair decided to head back, as it seemed that the rumor of raider activity was false. However, they couldn't leave without their comrade.

Unfortunately, neither knew where he was.

It was with that realization that the pair decided to split up momentarily. After agreeing on a spot to return to, they went their separate ways to search for him.

A few hours passed in which the pair returned to their spot a few times to report to the other. Shortly after one of these meetings, Pandora came across the same building Omega had, but from a different side. She also heard exactly what Omega did. Voices.

Her heart leaped into her throat, but she was unable to distinguish one voice from another, and so entered the building stealthily to investigate. She came across the hole in the floor, where the voices were clearest, and leaned in to try to and discern them. It was at that moment that they suddenly cut off, and she knew she was in trouble. Gripping her staff, she mounted it and flew off just as a spear of ice landed where she'd been previously. Rubble was knocked loose and scattered dust everywhere as she made her escape. She tried to spy her attacker, but the cloud of grit effectively hid them. Knowing better than to take on an unknown foe in her current condition, she left to find her brother.

Inside the building, Morukori tutted at his poor aim, "Hmph, thought I would have pegged her. Girl's got good instincts."

"You saw the staff, didn't you? Do you really think it could be her? She wasn't wearing any of the armour..."

Omega frowned. He'd managed barely a glimpse of the spy since the event had occurred so fast, but the figure had been distinctive enough for him to identify. He decided to investigate, Is that girl someone important?"

Kirukori flicked his tails, sending more sparks flying at random, "Maybe, but more like her weapon was important. Pretty much any raider or hunter worth their salt knows that thing. It belonged to an errant Mega Man, nicknamed 'the witch' for her brutality. Pandora. I'm surprised you haven't heard of her."

Omega scrunched his face, wracking his brain. He _knew_ he'd heard that name before!

"Master, Pandora was one of the Model W mega men from that Legion database. She was pronounced dead though," Viral reminded him.

The God of Destruction snapped his fingers, "Oh, yes, her! Now I remember! Thanks," he said, more to Viral than to the yellow kitsune, "I thought she was dead though. Think that girl stole her weapon, then?"

"I doubt it," Hirukori piped up, "it was thought that the weapon she used was a DNA-based one, like all the other mega men."

"Ah, I get it," Omega responded. He knew exactly how that worked, as his sword worked pretty much the same, "So then, Legion lied. She's still alive." _And I know her rather well_... Omega added silently. He snarled inwardly, perhaps he'd get his chance at a Model W after all?

"Maybe, maybe not. She wasn't wearing the witch's usual armour... maybe the staff was a fake?"

"Or maybe she just took off her armour," Omega thought aloud. "Whatever the case, we've all just learned something rather interesting. Ah, speaking of interesting!" he turned to the kitsunes, "Why did you guys come around to these burnt-out ruins anyways?"

"Oh, that? We were, uh, searching for information on another of our boss's pseudoroids. They knew she wanted to go errant, they just don't know what happened to her after one of her missions. That, and-!"

Morukori shot his sister a glare, as if to silence her from revealing too much. What that was, was something concerning the man in front of them right now. Devilbat Ignis wasn't a big deal as far as Scimitar, their leader, was concerned, but they'd heard about the mercenary being in the hunters and Scimitar wanted to see if there was any info about him lying about, what with the incident that had happened in the residential area and all. Not something that you'd want a suspicious man to know you were trying to do, really. If they wanted to recruit him, him knowing that they were essentially gathering up every piece of info they could find on him would be more likely to scare him away.

Besides, you got more bees with honey than with vinegar.

"You still didn't answer our question from earlier," Mirkuori started smoothly, "Scimitar told us that if he ever got to see you again, he'd insist that the offer was still open. We're all in awe of your abilities, what little we've seen of them."

The mercenary huffed up proudly at the compliment before Kirukori continued where his brother left off, "Yeah, you know, it'd be so much better to be a raider than work for Legion."

"But I'm trying to stay low, remember?Omega snapped.

Morukori barked right back, "Sure, keep telling yourself that!" He sniffed haughtily at Omega, it seemed honey was only going to go so far with him. "You're a powerful mercenary, and currently Legion has you tied up like a dog wincing away every time they so much as give you a glance. You can't stay like that forever. They'll want to know your secrets, and one of these days they won't be so nice about how they get them. You join the raiders, however, and maybe you piss of Legion, sure. But we won't tie you up, you'll get what you want. Blood and money. No _goody-two-shoes_ jobs or surveillance or whatever the hell else they're making you do. Are you going to keep living a lie, or are you going to get your gloves off and get the fight you really want?"

"And how do you know I'm hiding anything?"

"Because you just told me!"

Omega glared daggers at the ice fox, and for a moment Morukori could feel all the heat drain from the air. Despite his ice typing he shivered, feeling cold death breathing down his neck.

But then the Red Demon backed of, growling more to himself than at the snow dancer kitsune. "Hmph, I'd love to maul everything in my way, but... How do I get away from Legion, huh? They own the freakin' world, it's not like I could just run away with you right here. Sure,_ this _area is abandoned, but it's surrounded by residential areas."

"Hmm, point. Trying to teleport out of here would be foolish. Even if we did slip past security, they could follow us to the ship and attack it at its source. We need to organize an escape..."

"Who said I was going to join you?" Omega roared.

"You happy being a dog, then?"

Omega quieted down, "I don't like taking sides."

"And if you don't, you're on your own and at risk. No one is invincible."

The God of Destruction looked away. Those words hit home harder than the kitsune realized.

Harukori frowned, then started talking in a happy voice, hoping to remove the down atmosphere, "Sure, hey, quit being such downers everyone! There's got to be a way, right? Uhm... hey!" she picked out a communicator, passing it to Omega, "this is mine. How about you call us back when you think of something, or maybe we can call you? It's a civilian line registered to a fake account, so they can't trace it back to you unless you give them the communicator."

Omega took it with slight interest, inspecting the item before pocketing it. "And yet, I haven't actually stated that I want to join you. Why go to all this trouble for something you're not sure of?"

Morukori stared down at him, his icy eyes betraying no emotion, "Well, as I see it, you have two choices. One, stay with Legion. Do their dirty work, don't get paid, and don't keep any secrets for long. Or two, come with us, be a raider, have your blood and glory, and do what you want with little restraint."

"And what if I want an option three? What if I decide to try going out alone, huh? Ditch Legion and live by myself?"

Harukori frowned, "I think you already tried that, you were at Hunter's camp for a while, right? Look how well that worked out. And that wasn't even when Legion wanted you or anything. You escape them and get on their 'naughty' list, well..."

Omega said nothing.

"So, what's your choice, teacher? Are you going to be a dog, or..." Morukori extended his paw, "are you going to be a raider?"

Silence filled the room once again as the mercenary considered his options. An extended period of time passed.

"...I need to think about it..." Omega finally replied.

Morukori appeared only mildly dissatisfied at this, "Fair enough. We're not going to force you into anything. Anyways, we got what we came for here, we had better leave."

"Yeah, I suppose so," said the sand dancer.

"Aww, sensei...! Well, goodbye I guess."

With that, the three jumped to the middle of the pile under the opening, and in one swift motion, leaped up and out of view.

Omega, however, didn't leave right away. After shuffling around a bit, he sat down on a relatively clean slab of debris and thought deeply about what to do. He sighed heavily, this certainly wasn't going to be an easy decision.

"...Master?"

"Yes Viral?"

"Perhaps you should think more about this at Legion. The longer you stay here, the more likely Black and... Pandora are likely to come here searching for you."

"You're right."

After a final, short respite of thought, he stood up, dusted himself off once more and headed to the surface.

X X X

It wasn't until about halfway back to the starting point that Omega ran into the siblings. 'White' was surprised and happy to see him unhurt, then promptly began explaining about her encounter with an unknown enemy. Omega feigned innocence, oozing false concern when she told him of her narrow escape. Black (who Omega had surmised was likely another one of the 'deceased' mega men) bared his scythe, ready to run ahead to the building, but with a little convincing from Omega, settled down. It helped that it had begun to rain heavily, which, as he pointed out, would remove any trace of their foe, and quite frankly they'd done their job, found signs of raider activity, and should really be getting home now because it's late afternoon and I don't want to get soaking wet. The siblings seemed hesitant about giving up the chase, but since what the mercenary said did indeed make a lot of sense, they packed it up for the day and called for a transport home.

It was when they reported in to the masters that things started getting interesting.

Upon the completion of their report, Thomas and Mikhail leaned back in their chairs, looking at each other as they digested the information.

"Well, we had the area checked over completely after the fire, they can't have found anything useful there. Nonetheless, it is disturbing that they'd come so close to Legion, even to look for something."

"We'll have to investigate further, but at the moment we can leave that until later," Thomas spoke, "I think for now, though, Mikhail, you had some information for them?"

"Ah, yes!" begun the sage, "I just announced it to the public earlier today. We're having a fighting tournament, to celebrate the end of the Ouroboros."

Pandora and Prometheus shot back puzzled glances, and so Mikhail explained the reasoning behind the event. Omega paid only scant attention, something about high tensions and fighting. As much as he liked fighting, he was sure a tournament would have no end to the publicity and cameras involved. Despite projecting an outward enthusiasm for the idea, he really wanted none of that, thank you!

The explanation had just ended when Thomas suddenly turned to Omega, catching him off guard, "Now, as for you, I think there's something we've been putting off for quite a while now, isn't there?"

As Vent, Aile and Grey appeared from behind the throne, Omega knew shit was about to hit the fan. He glanced around the room nervously, but found no one else in the vicinity. He stared at the Masters unhappily.

"Oh, right. I was due for a check up, wasn't I?

Despite the casual manner in which he said it, there was an enormous amount of tension built up into his frame. His mind started working a million miles a minute trying to figure out a way around the new problem.

Mikhail nodded, "We hate to have to do this, but you are due, phobias or not." He stood up, as did Thomas, in a silent effort to assert their dominance. Omega really didn't give a hoot about that, but nonetheless he had some_ fast_ talking to do or he was in trouble.

"Hold on... you said there was a tournament, right?"

Now it was the Masters turn to be caught off guard. "Yes?"

Omega grinned. A funny little idea had just popped into his head, and he wouldn't have been surprised if Viral had something to do with it.

"Well, okay, you got me. I'm phobic of doctors, but I have to take a check up. But, there's one way I might be able to get past that problem. Now, uhm, this tournament, it's gotta have an opening ceremony, right?"

"Correct?"

I'll tell you what. I don't really want to do this, but... well, you know I like fighting a lot, and being a mercenary and all, getting some attention would really be good for business, especially since the war's over and all," he said. Everyone gave him an odd look at his terminology of 'war' but since the fight against the Ouruoboros had been rather a big one, they dismissed it. He continued, "So, I'll tell you what. I'll take a full examination... and I'll be completely cooperative... if you let me be there when the ceremony takes place. Okay? Just give me all the intel on it, though, 'cause I want to make a good impression, and to do that I need to know everything about the event. That way, with me in the tournament and all, you also get to see me in action as well as getting a biopsy. Sound good?"

Thomas seemed surprised, "So you'll willingly submit to an examination if we let you join the tournament, and make sure you're there when the opening ceremony takes place?"

"Yes, but, I'll take the examination _after_ the ceremony, and not a moment before! But, when it happens, you've got my word that I'll go quietly. Promise."

The Masters visibly recoiled, thinking upon this new information. They looked at each other before Mikhail nodded, "Very well, that seems reasonable. Yes, very much so! Anyways, the ceremony will take place in about a month, as soon as we've properly organized it we'll tell you all the details. Heck, we'll even tell you who's going to be the entertainment, the valets, even the catering if that's what you want. It's good that you're finally seeing reason!"

Omega smiled widely, the fake cheer tasting like rot in his mouth, "You know, I just thought about my options a bit, and I figured that this was the best way to go. I have been fairly rude up until this point, but I still just needed a little more time to get used to the idea of a doctor. Well, now that that's settled, would you mind if I left? It was a long day today."

Still slightly suspicious, Thomas nodded, "Yes, you may leave."

And he did.

When Omega finally entered his own room, he once again made sure the door was locked. Then he checked the windows, closing them, and gave his room a quick, conspiratorial sweep before allowing a malicious grin to manifest on his face.

His word. Yeah, right. He was actually going to go to the ceremony like they wanted him to, but after that...

Well, he had no intention of staying.

Omega dialed the communicator, and when he reached the other side, he asked for Scimitar. The raider leader didn't make him wait long.

"Is that you, really? It's been so long!"

Omega cut to the chase, "That offer of yours was still up on the board, right?"

Silence greeted his question. It didn't take a rocket scientist to guess what he'd just implied.

Scimitar finally responded, a smile evident in his words, "It may be a little early of me to say this, but...

Welcome aboard, mercenary."


	31. Calm before the storm

Hey guys, sorry for the long wait for this chapter!

Although many of you may not be aware, the 26th of april was a momentous occasion ten years ago! And this year, it's the wonderful tenth anniversary of the release of the first Megaman Zero game! Without that series, this fic wouldn't even exist! So guess what guys, I'm gonna go there!

Happy anniversary, Zero!

Yay, puns.

Also, a shout-out to the "Get me off the moon group" on facebook, who got their goal of 100,000 supporters for their movement to get Megaman Legends 3 reconsidered! I may not have had a facebook with which to help you guys with it, but believe me, I've always been cheering you on from the sidelines! 100,000 strong and going!

Oh, and the last little bit of this fic is probably going to be more significant to anyone who has read/remembers the last poem from Tales of the Sky's second chapter.

* * *

The next morning was a lazy affair. Omega awoke to the sounds of birds happily singing outside of his window, their cheerful voices rising in a beautiful crescendo. He went through his morning ritual without a hitch, but with nothing to do after, he simply lay around his room. Noon had uneventfully arrived before he finally got so bored that he left to explore Legion. While traveling through the government's assorted halls, rooms and gardens, he couldn't help but wonder why the day was so peaceful. Boring as hell, but peaceful.

His question went unanswered for about a half-hour as he pondered, mildly enjoying the time to himself, before a glance at some of the staff members brought to mind Master Mikhail's announcement from earlier.

The fighting tournament. Of course.

It would be quite the event, he realized. People all over would be coming to it, nations and individuals alike. Of course the raiders would be quiet now. No doubt they too would be preparing for the event, as it would be the best time for terrorist acts. Omega huffed, like Legion would ever let that happen. They had about eight mega men on their side... no, wait, make that ten. Pandora and her brother, 'Black' were probably mega men too, weakened as they were. Even without those two, though, anyone against the rule of Legion would have to think twice about trying anything against them unprepared. Omega spared only a bare thought about why Pandora and Black were so weakened, but decided to leave that thought for later and continued his idle wanderings about Legion.

Even when he eventually wandered into one of the two Masters, nothing really happened. Upon his inquiry, the man had told him that no, there weren't any missions he could do that day. Nothing had really come up. And so, Omega continued his walk until the sun had set and the day passed into night.

The next day went very much the same. Once again, the world seemed to be in a lull, no activity available for a hired sword like him. The only thing interesting about that day was a short conversation with Viral, who mentioned something about his solution to Omega's flying problem being a little harder to deal with than initially thought. The program had come up with an idea, but it was very risky, and tests would have to be made to ensure it would work. Scenarios would have to be run and re-run, DNA would have to be tested multiple times to ensure stability, and so on and so forth. It wasn't like before, where the potential systems had had centuries of being locked up to work on upgrades, or like with the EX Combos, which were pretty much compatible already. Omega simply gave Viral a disappointed but understanding reply. He'd rather not risk his safety just for the ability to fly, even if he was starting to get stir-crazy after just a day and a half of inactivity. After all, he remembered all too clearly what had happened when he'd tried the Model A's EX Combo without first testing it out. Besides, if things continued as they were now, they'd have all the time in the world. With that, Viral bubbled gleefully in response and continued his work.

As such, that day also passed without much incidence. And so did the next day, and the day after that. The days began to slip into weeks, most incidents occurring being minor. These were usually dealt with by the mega men. Omega himself, if he was ever called up, was usually sent out on patrols or to run quick errands for Legion. He kept on his best behavior while doing so. Anyone except for him would think that the normally sarcastic, aggravating and violent mercenary had somehow turned over a new leaf. Omega was sure to always act cordially with everyone. He was polite, did his missions promptly and without fuss, and even acted mildly friendly to everyone he met. He also kept a smile on every time the Masters invited him to discussions about the tournament, being as helpful with ideas as he could while simultaneously noting down every single detail he could and remembering it for his escape later. Overall, he portrayed himself as the most pleasant, if quiet, person you could ever meet (relatively speaking, compared to what he'd been earlier).

The Masters were sure that it was because he'd finally gotten over his fear of doctors. They presumed that, now that he wasn't afraid of being jumped by one at any moment in Legion, he had calmed down significantly. He was surrounded by kind people (unlike hunter's camp, although most people were nice there, they tended to be a little... rough around the edges) and he wasn't stressed for his life or his personal space; surely this was a sign that he'd finally accepted his new position?

That was what he let them believe, anyways. They'd gone and convinced themselves and everyone else that he'd changed. Who was he to argue that? It suited him well enough, after all, none of them knew of the insidious plot just below the surface. Let them think he was being a good little boy. His scheme would simply come as even more of a nasty surprise.

Only one outstanding incident had occurred during the first few weeks after his meeting with the kitsuroids. It wasn't even a big one, really. It had all come about when Omega had decided that his clothes finally needed a washing, no one else was going to do it for him after all.

Of course, he had conveniently forgotten that he'd never actually _used _a washing machine before.

Wasn't his fault the thing had too many damn buttons.

Omega had stood there like an idiot, staring at the machine dumbly until one of the mega men had walked in on the situation. Aile, being the motherly type, didn't need more than a glance at the hopeless God of Destruction's expression before she'd given a small laugh and shown him the ropes. That incident, thankfully, wasn't well known by the other mega men. This was good, because if either Atlas or Aeolus had gotten ahold of the info he would've never heard the end of it. Speaking of those two, they seemed to have some sort of grudge with him, trying to outdo him at every opportunity. And he let them... most of the time.

Several more weeks had passed before anything really major occurred. Multiple things, in fact, and they all seemed to happen at once. The first of these things to occur was a narrow escape from being discovered. Omega had been leisurely walking down a hall when it happened.

It had been yet another sunny, boring day. Omega was dully staring out a window when he heard a commotion behind him. He turned around, only to quickly start swearing under his breath and turn back to looking outside the window. Copy X had, out of nowhere, appeared alongside the Masters, whom were discussing about the fighting tournament. Something about 'Neo Arcadia not joining the festivities, although thank you for the offer, etc etc.' Putting his wit and reactions to the test, Omega began fumbling with his hair as if trying to fix it using the window's reflection. When the trio of people were _right behind him, oh hell this had better work,_ Omega calmly turned down the way they had passed, keeping his face hidden as he walked back the way the others had come. He continued walking leisurely, although he wanted to run as soon as he felt a stern gaze from behind. The hairs on his neck rose, prickling his skin, but he kept up the facade until he was around a corner and out of sight. Then he ran. He ran hard, and he didn't stop until he found himself in another one of Legion's many secluded gardens, panting for breath and weak at the knees.

"Holy crap that was close," he muttered to himself, flopping onto the ground limply.

"I suppose now would be a good time for some good news, master?" Viral spoke suddenly.

The Red Demon brushed a few stray golden strands of hair from his face, "That... would be nice, yes."

"Very well! That solution to your flying problem, well, it should be ready to test out later today or tomorrow!"

Omega couldn't help but grin. The previous incident was almost completely forgotten at the realization that soon, he would be able to soar the skies once more. He hadn't even realized how much he'd missed being able to experience the freedom of the air. Probably, pondered the ancient reploid, because it was the only freedom he really got around that place. Nonetheless, the news made him positively ecstatic, and he couldn't wait to try out Viral's concoction.

"Great job, Viral! Continue with your work."

Viral replied, his voice so high pitched with joy it bordered on squeaking, "The master is happy! The master is very happy! Thank you master, I will continue to please!" And with that, he left.

Omega was struck for a moment. Viral was... happy? Should Viral even be capable of emotions? He shook his head, dislodging the thought. It was probably just another part of that 'personality' program designed to make him relatable. Quite frankly, he shouldn't give it a second thought. There wasn't anything wrong with that, right?

...Right?

X X X

Several hours had passed, daylight falling into mid-afternoon with barely the laziest sigh of wind to disturb the foliage in the garden. Furred and feathered creatures rustled among the grasses as well as the branches of trees and shrubs. Insects chirped as the scent of flowers hung in the air, their heady fragrance having lulled the God of Destruction into a semi-sleep long ago. He was flat on his back on a stone bench, hidden underneath a magnificently blooming plant, when the door to the garden opened with a gentle creak.

Despite his previous dozy state, Omega instantly snapped to attention. He gazed over from his hiding spot at the two people entering into the garden, and was both relieved and surprised to see that it was Pandora and her brother (if it had been Seraph he'd have probably been up and swinging his sword already). As it was, he kept quiet and watched the proceedings.

Pandora seemed nervous, constantly fidgeting with her clothes, as she talked to her brother in hushed tones. He replied with a friendly, almost cheeky tone, as if trying to instill confidence in his sister. Whatever the topic, it seemed they had been discussing it for a while, as Black seemed mildly frustrated with her apparent indecisiveness. Overall this wasn't easy to spot, it was only by the slightest twitch of his body that let this slip. Pandora, on the other hand, simply oozed nervousness and was constantly looking around the garden, whether to avoid her brother's gaze, to find a mental escape, or even for a wellspring of confidence, Omega wasn't sure. All he knew was that, if she continued, the chances of him being spotted would drastically increase. So he decided to take matters into his own hands.

Lying down and feigning slumber, he kept his eyes lightly closed and let out a snore. Well, more of a small snuffle really. He could hear a faint movement from the direction of the siblings and knew that they had heard him. Perfect, he thought. He shuffled in his 'sleep' on the bench, turning on his side. However, he knew that the bench wasn't all that large, and, as planned, he fell to the earth with a _whump_.

As the siblings watched, plants began rustling wildly as Omega suddenly shot up off the ground from behind a bush. He was snorting with mild surprise, looking around his surroundings with confusion bordering on slight alarm. With a leaf adorning his mussed-up hair, he blinked, turning to the pair as though he'd only just noticed them.

"Oh. Uh, good morning?"

"It's afternoon, actually," Prometheus noted emotionlessly. Pandora had gone quiet as a grave, her lips pressed together like a clam and her cheeks rosy. The pair of them had been caught off guard by his sudden appearance.

The mercenary blinked again, "Oh, really? Hmph. Must've fallen asleep." He gave them a small smile, "I suppose that's just typical of me, though. Sorry, I didn't interrupt anything, did I?"

"Oh, n-no, nothing much," replied Pandora, rather too quickly Omega noticed. He wondered what their conversation had been about.

Prometheus looked over at him, then his face took on a look like a lightbulb had gone off somewhere in his mind. He nudged White with his elbow, and at her confused glance he inclined his head towards Omega with a quick, knowing gesture. She stared at him blankly, forcing him to repeat the movement a few more times. Then she seemed to get what he was getting at, as she began to blush profusely and stammer.

"Wh-wh-wha, no way, I just, I mean-!"

Prometheus gave a long, exasperated sigh, then grabbed her, pulled her up, and gave her a small shove towards Omega, who was in the process of extricating himself from the bush.

"It's great timing! Just ask him already!"

Pandora gave a small squeak and gulped. By now Omega was out of the bush, brushing down his bedraggled hair and looking at her curiously. White cupped her hands together, playing around with her thumbs as she peeped out a question.

"U-u-uh, S-sorry to bother you, b-b-but, uh... t-there was , uh... uhh... " she went quiet for a while, looking away from him, before she caught her brother's grin and continued, "There was a... a da... a d-d... a... _dance_, in the opening ce-ceremonies for the tournament, r-right...?"

By this point, Pandora's face was as red as a tomato, her eyes roving everywhere in the garden except the face of the man she was talking to. Omega's eyebrow shot up, wondering just what she was trying to get at.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, I do remember the Masters saying something about a dance. I wasn't really paying attention at that point honestly."

"O-okay... yeah... a-a-about that... uhm... I was... uh... I, I, ah... was wondering, ah... I..."

Omega, who was extremely confused about why she was being so nervous, decided to see if he could help her finish her sentence. "Were you wondering about the dress code for the dance?"

"Ah! Yes! Uh, no! I mean, yes! Yes, that was it! I was wondering about the dress code!" She shot out. Her eyes looked up at him with...relief? He wasn't sure why.

In the background, Prometheus smacked his forehead audibly.

Omega's eyebrow rose again at the other male's actions, but he decided to ignore it and answer Pandora's question, "Right, the dress code. I believe it was formal... Oh, come to think about it, I don't think I have anything formal to wear for that, and I'm expected to attend... Whoops. Well, I think I know what I need to do this afternoon. Thanks!" Omega smiled, wandering out of the garden and into Legion.

Shortly after he'd disappeared, Pandora threw down her arms huffily, "No! Damn! Damn it! I botched it!" She sobbed, her eyes getting a little watery.

Prometheus came over, patting her on the back and giving her a hug. "Hey hey hey, it's okay. The dance is still a while away! You'll have plenty of time to ask him."

Pandora hugged him back, "Y-you sure? But, what if someone else asks him?"

"Who else would_ possibly_ want to ask him out. Seriously, who?" he comforted with a smirk.

Pandora though for a few seconds before bursting out laughing. Prometheus gave her a confused look, to which she was only able to answer with copious amounts of giggles. "D-Dance... Hee hee... Atlas! Bwaahaahaa! Atlas in a dress! Ahaahaa hee hee hee!"

And with that, Prometheus burst into laughter as well. "Waahaahaahaa! You'd have better luck getting _Aeolus_ into a dress! Bwaa haa haa haa!"

"Hee hee hee hee! Too true! Aahaahaahaa!"

X X X X X

Meanwhile, shortly after Omega had left the pair, he was encountering far more problems with getting a suit than he though he would. At first he'd gone onto a Legion public server (conveniently, free to use computers were located all over Legion, all he had to do was walk into a lounge area) to search up formal attire. Much to his chagrin, Very few places with suits were within a reasonable distance of Legion, anything that needed to be shipped would take far too long, and the majority of places in the city seemed to be way, way, _waaay _too expensive. There were a few places that looked reasonable price-wise, but they were beyond the city's borders. Omega grumbled at the predicament, but set out to find one of the Masters in hopes that he could transport there, or pick up a job to earn some money.

He didn't even get past inquiring a secretary as to their location. She took on look at him and his ID before promptly telling him he was constrained to Legion due to his 'recently infectious condition' (so no taking missions or running around looking for a store). That and the Masters were too busy to see him, thank you very much, have a nice day now go away. Well, not in those exact terms, but Omega was pretty sure that was the general idea.

Instead of going away like she wanted, however, he asked her one last question. She'd given him a positive answer on that one surprisingly enough, but with one condition.

That condition had landed him in his current position. Omega was in the middle of a Legion shopping district, citizens shuffling by him as he took in his surroundings. It was a typical commercial area; bright, colourful advertisements, huge signs, lots of people going to and fro, and large, clear windows showcasing and and all available products. It was a busy, noisy, hurried place. But that, of course, wasn't what was bothering the God of Destruction. The thing that was bothering him was the person behind him.

Siarnaq stared dully at his charge, completely ignoring their surroundings.

Of all the people he'd gotten stuck with, _why_ did it have to be the Model P?

Omega grumbled quietly to himself as he surveyed his surroundings, looking for a shop that suited his interests. While all of the good formal-wear stores in Legion were too expensive, he was hoping to find a place having a sale or discount, or maybe a shop he's missed on his internet search. So far, however, he wasn't having any luck.

Siarnaq, whom he hadn't shared his plans with, spoke up, "INQUIRY INTO THE PURPOSE OF SUBJECT B.D.'S EXCURSION."

Omega looked back at the ninja sullenly, "I'm looking for something, duh. I'd like to 'inquire' as to why you decided to be the one following me?"

His question seemed to fall on deaf ears. Siarnaq continued to affix him with a level gaze. Then he got an unexpected reply, "RESPONSE; REPLACEMENT OF ARTICLE DESTROYED IN AMUSEMENT PARK FIRE, AND VISIT TO IMPORTANT PERSONS INVOLVED."

Omega responded with a disinterested gaze, "Uh, okay, a visit, but... what asset?"

"SCARF," Siarnaq pointed out simply. Omega grunted in response. Oh right, the shadow mega man had come out of that incident short of a scarf. He wondered why he hadn't noticed it missing before. Oh, right, because he rarely ever saw the monotone man. He presumed the scarf had been lost in the fire. Too bad the bastard hadn't lost his life instead, he pouted internally. With that cleared up, he barely considered who the person might be, instead prioritizing his own business. The duo continued to walk along the outdoor mall, Omega frowning as their search continued to give a frustrating lack of results. Evening slowly began to settle on the land, casting a gentle glow on the city below. Omega sighed miserably. It seemed that his venture had proved fruitless; he'd have to try again tomorrow. He turned to his traveling companion, who had been getting a bit edgy.

"I haven't found what I'm looking for. Let's just get your business done and go home."

Siarnaq simply nodded, whether he was surprised or not wasn't discernible by his features. Speaking of those features, Omega briefly noted that Siarnaq was clean-shaven, probably a habit he'd developed to reduce any irritation from his facial hair interfering with the scarf he usually wore. Although he wore a high collared shirt, Omega surmised that there were heavy scars on his neck, if only by the fact that a few nasty looking, disfigured marks started on his lower jaw and continued down under his clothes, where the blonde reploid couldn't see them. Siarnaq abruptly turned around and began to walk away, Omega filing away his observations for later use. You never know what might come in handy later, right?

Following the ninja to his unknown destination was easy. Siarnaq was constantly checking back on him, making sure he was close behind. If anything, it was harder to _not _follow him. If Omega even stopped for a moment to look at something in a window, or ponder the behaviour of a random pedestrian, Siarnaq would appear silently at his side, waiting until the red demon gave him his attention and they could continue on their venture. About a half hour passed, the silence between the two almost unnerving. There was no doubt in the ancient reploid's mind that the ninja was still wary of him. Justifiably so, he had to admit. It wasn't until the buildings in the shopping district began toget larger and more expensively decorated that the ninja finally stopped. He was looking around, and soon noticed, apparently, the location he wished to go. Omega followed him, not bothering to view the surroundings as they entered a ritzy-looking store. The inside was even more extravagant than the outside, more decorations seeming to adorn the place than the clothes it stocked. The clothes themselves were long and colourful, almost as extraordinary as their ridiculous price tags. Also apparent about the store was a large, ornate golden symbol, placed on some of the walls and all of the tags.

The symbols were familiar and it didn't take long for it to click. He knew _exactly_ why those symbols were familiar. He turned to look at Siarnaq, "Hey... uh, buddy? Maybe we should leave..."

Siarnaq, who had been investigating a red silk scarf, carefully put it down and made as if to follow Omega outside the store. "RESPONSE; ADVISABLE, PRODUCT IS TOO EXPENSIVE."

"Is that who I _think_ it is? Marvelous! _Fabulous_! I'd _wondered_ where you went, and here you are!"

Omega and Siarnaq stopped dead at the entrance. Moving so slowly that their necks almost creaked, they looked at each other, then looked behind themselves at the man, and a small group of his followers, standing there. Omega, inconceivably, let out a small whine, causing the ninja beside him to stare at him incredulously.

With his fashionable brown hair, pants, and square shoes, Teegee stared down the two men in front of him with an almost predatory expression of glee. A long, tan scarf similar to the one Siarnaq had been looking at expertly accented the burgundy shirt and shades he wore. With cat-like grace the fashionista male brought his hand to his chin in a gesture of consideration, the few other patrons in the shop aghast with shock at his appearance. Judging by them, it seemed that the man rarely made appearances in public, even in his own store. Omega couldn't help but back up a few paces. What horrible luck, then, for them to be here at the same time as him!

As Teegee took a step forward and began speaking, Omega couldn't help but notice that Siarnaq had also taken a step back and was glancing about warily, as if sensing that anything that could make Omega nervous was well worth being afraid of. Omega couldn't blame him; all he could remember about the man was that he and his cronies had chased him rather doggedly through Hunter's camp, and that wasn't even his own territory.

Now that they _were_ in his territory, _his own shop _for that matter, escape seemed futile.

"I was looking _everywhere_ for you, hunter! Do you know how utterly_ thoroughly _I had people looking for you? You are rather a hard one to find, I must admit! But here you are! Fabulous! I can't tell you how _happy _I am that you're here!" grinned the designer.

Omega stuttered a reply, "Yeah, well, I'd come down with a little, uh, infectious disease. Had to go to Legion and all that, eh..." Another step back. _So_ close to freedom, yet so far! Could he make a run for it?

Unfortunately, whatever fear Siarnaq appeared to have had was now replaced with curiosity. Omega internally cursed at him for what came next. "SUBJECT IS NO LONGER CONSIDERED INFECTIOUS; HOWEVER LEGION HAS ASSIGNED OBSERVATION OF SUBJECT FOR MEDICAL PURPOSES IN CASE OF FURTHER SIGNS OF OUTBREAK," droned the shadow Mega Man.

Teegee clapped his hands together excitedly, "Ooh! My dear! No wonder we couldn't find you! And, oh ho ho! I'd recognize that speech pattern anywhere! Am I really in the presence of a Mega Man?" he smiled excitedly, everyone in the store giving the pair their full, unwanted attention. "I hardly recognized you without your wonderful scarf! Dearie me, what happened to it?"

"ACCIDENT...?" was all the ninja could manage as a reply. It seemed to Omega that he'd realized his mistake in admitting anything to the eccentric man, although Omega could only wonder why he couldn't have realized it sooner and saved them some trouble.

"Oh no! That's such a shame!"

"Yeah, it is, that's why he was looking for a new one," Omega suddenly spoke up, lightly grabbing Siarnaq's arm long enough to pull him towards the exit. "Unfortunately it looks like we're just a little too low on funds now to get it. Heh heh, the life of a mercenary, you know. Well, it was nice meeting you again, but we have to leave!"

"Leave?" As they turned around, Teegee's hands gripped each of their shoulders like a cold vice, "no no no, that won't do! I won't have it said that I based my line off of the wonderful Mega Men only to turn one down at the door when he was in need! Come in, come in!" He lightly tried to pull them back into the store. "Mirvan, be a dear and fetch me that scarf! The red one, if you'd please!"

"No, it's okay really! I've got to be leaving anyways!" Omega started nervously, "I've uh, uh... oh right! I've got a lot of preparing to do! I'm a part of that tournament coming up, and there's some things I need to go get you see-!"

Teegee suddenly stopped, all emotion leaving him, "You're in on the tournament coming up?" he asked flatly, only the barest hint of wonder escaping him.

Omega sensed an out, "Er, yes! Yes, uh, I'm helping out a bit with it you see, and, uh, I needed to go look up something for it! Uh yes, so sorry, we must be off now!"

Unfortunately for Omega, what he'd sensed was an out turned out to be a false hope. Teegee's eyes sparkled with excitement, "_You're_ a part of the tournament committee? That means, oh yes! Yes! You are undoubtedly going to be one of the VIP's at the dance they have planned! How fabulous! Tell me, you must tell me, what have you got planned for your outfit? I _must _know what fashions will be displayed there! It's my duty as a fashion designer to know, even if I can't get there myself!"

Omega, whose shoulder was once again being gripped tightly by the man, barely managed to squeak out his answer, "Uh, I h-haven't got anything settled in stone about my outfit yet, actually, I-"

"Brilliant! Wondrous! _Fabulous_!" squealed Teegee. "And what about you, Mega Man?"

"CLOTHING ARTICLES HAVE BEEN PROCURED-" he started, before being interrupted by the excited fashion designer.

"But you still need your scarf! Ah! Then look no further! It is yours!" Teegee exclaimed. With that, one of the people that had been following him, presumably Mirvan, handed Siarnaq the very same red scarf that he'd been investigating earlier, now free of a price tag. Siarnaq nodded a quick thanks before swiftly putting it on, possibly to help hide the uneasy expression threatening to overtake his normally emotionless face.

"There, that's so much better!" Teegee then turned back to the wilting God of Destruction struggling beneath his grip, "Now as for you! Oh, I know you're a little low on funds, so here's a deal for you! That dance you're going to, well, it's most certainly _the_ high-class event of the century! All of the biggest names and people are going to be there! The Masters of Legion, government figures from around the globe, and the most famous actors in all the world, to name but a few! But it's also going to be so _exclusive_, security purposes you know! So you see my predicament? How, as a world-class designer, am I supposed to spread the word of my _fabulous _sense of style if I can't even be there? My my, what a predicament! That's where you come in, my good man! Now, don't give me such a nervous look, it will be easy! I'll provide you with one of my suits, and if anyone asks, you must be _sure_ to tell them who you received it from! If you could get a good word to the Masters to let me into the event, why, that too would be appreciated, but if that's not possible then I understand perfectly! Truly a _fabulous idea_, is it not?"

Omega cringed inwardly, trying very hard to not let his emotion come to the surface. He really, _really_ didn't want to have anything to do with this man, but... well he needed a suit, after all. "Uhm... I'm not very good with people, but... okay?"

"_Fabulous_!" Teegee exclaimed happily. He grabbed Omega's shoulders, rapidly spinning him around and pushing him towards the back of the store, "I've been waiting for this opportunity for ages! Ooh, and of all things, I get to design a suite! Oh oh oh dear! And for such an event, it will have to be one of my best! But, ah, I mustn't get too far ahead of myself, we still have to get you all sized and tailored up first!"

Siarnaq seemed to jump in surprise, jogging to Teegee's side, "CEASE IMMEDIATELY, MASTERS ASSIGNED SUBJECT SIARNAQ TO SURVEILLANCE OF SUBJECT B.D.-!"

"Oh, my manners are terrible, my apologies! But certainly you could continue your surveillance of him perfectly well if you were to come with me us as well, there's plenty of room in the back!" with that, Teegee grabbed Siarnaq by his arms and began dragging him to the back as well. All onlookers were stupefied at the ability of the relatively little man's ability to drag not one, but _two_ seasoned fighters to the back of the store without needing so much as a sneeze of help from any of his cohorts. Quite frankly, the two being dragged were even more surprised at the turn of events. If that wasn't enough, the Model P had finally made its appearance, whizzing around Siarnaq's head worriedly. Although, at the same time, Omega couldn't help but think, looking in its eyes, that it was having a field day watching the two of them being pushed around by one lone fashionista.

He'd never really known Phantom, the reploid he presumed the Model P was based off of... but in that instant, he knew that he probably wouldn't have liked him anyways. "You worthless little shit, help us out here!" he muttered urgently to it, his words mirrored by the frantic glances of the Model P Mega Man.

"What exactly could I do anyways? Sorry Siarnaq, I can't help you here!" it told the ninja.

Surrounded on all sides by Teegee's loyal followers and high end clothing, the pair was shoved into the back of the store.

X X X

Siarnaq, it seemed, had gotten off easy. He watched suspiciously as the well-dressed man directed the majority of his attention to the squirming mercenary, his scrutiny and observations about his victim bombarding the poor man's senses. Orders were barked; Teegee's men scrambling to provide him the materials and measuring devices he desired. The purple Mega Man didn't get off entirely scot-free however. At one point he found himself pushed onto a small stage, and the next thing he knew he was getting tweaked and prodded into an odd position. A few flashes of a camera betrayed the purpose of the maneuver, setting him on edge. He tried to protest, but the cameraman stopped him.

"Yer getting that scarf for free, right? Then what does a picture or two hurt? Besides, the boss is only gonna use it in a picture book of some of his customers, it's not gonna go around as public advertising or something silly like that. It's not everyday ya get a mega man wearing yer gear, ya know!"

Siarnaq kept his expression carefully neutral, but the news that the pictures weren't going to go too public had appeased him somewhat.

However, it seemed whatever the fashion designer was doing to the poor mercenary certainly wasn't appeasing him, as shortly after the pictures were taken the red reploid had started up a fiasco.

"No way! What the hell! I am_ not_ taking my shirt off!"

"We can't measure you properly if you don't!"

"I don't care, there's got to be some other-! Hey, leggo!"

"Fabulous job! Now calm down there, I'm not going to try anything! I realize you're nervous about taking your shirt off, but I do need it off to get the proper numbers!"

"Come on mate, take it off already!"

"Fine! I'll take the damn thing off, just let me go already!" Omega yelled. He struggled out of the grip holding and yanked off his shirt in frustration, growling angrily at those in attendance. "Happy now, assholes?"

Everyone in the room had suddenly gone quiet and was staring at him. Even Siarnaq was gazing at him, an eyebrow ever so slightly up, whereas some of the others were gawking much more noticeably. Omega felt very uncomfortable at first before he realized just what they were staring at.

In all the recent excitement, he'd forgotten completely about his scar.

Teegee tapped his foot against the floor, a ponderous and slightly troubled look on his face. Before Omega could stop him, the man had whipped around behind him and now stood behind him, looking at his back.

"Why, that's quite a scar there. It's all the way around to the back! My word!"

The red reploid unconsciously turned around to defend himself from Teegee's gaze, but quickly spun back around upon realizing that he'd accidentally showcased it to everyone in the room. "It's not as bad as it looks, honestly, it's just on the surface..."

Mentally, however, he was recoiling from the reality of his scar. The longer he looked at it, the more he noticed just how much more _defined _it appeared than it did the last time he viewed it.

Viral spoke up from nowhere, "I'm sorry Master, the scar is a result of some permanent physical damage. Although it's minor and shouldn't hurt you, the flaw is still there, and there's not much I can do about it... even transforming won't make the damage disappear. If anything it will just make it more apparent, since when your body changes, the damaged components that make the scar won't transform quite as well as the rest. If you take a look the next time you change shape, you'll probably see the scar there anyways. I'm sorry Master..."

Omega grimaced, still staring down at the damage to his own body. Oh, one of these days, someone was going to _pay_ for this! He didn't care if Zero and his friends were dead, or if their biometals had forgotten him! Anyone who associated with them was going to regret that their predecessors had marred him in such a way! He'd pay back that humiliation a hundredfold!

His furious thoughts were rudely interrupted by Teegee, who had snapped his workers back to attention with a no-nonsense approach to the situation.

"What a terrible looking wound! Oh dear... but, one that will be covered up soon enough by a _fabulous_ suit, fit for a king! Now, hand me that measuring tape!"

What followed abruptly snapped Omega out of his rage as well, as he soon found himself being poked, prodded, snapped at to stay still, and turned around more times than he could count. Thankfully it was only his shirt that needed to come off through the whole ordeal, his pants were tight-fitting enough that the measurements were taken through them. What came after, however, was nowhere near as idle as the measurements. Teegee's group began scrambling around at their leader's orders, retrieving fabrics, colour samples, and all assortments of items the man needed. Omega was given a thorough chastisement from all the different things the fashionista was trying, from reds to blues to ruffles and lace (dear gods, lace!), but he tried his best not to protest too much. Siarnaq had retreated to a corner, managing to avoid the majority of the fuss.

It was only after a long time of clothing experiments, further measurements, and discussion of style with his cohorts that the Legion pair finally managed to find a break. Teegee had suddenly proclaimed that he was finished with this stage of the outfit, and the pair quickly found themselves an excuse to leave. They almost ran from the building, Teegee's yells of "I'll call you back if I need you further for your suit, Mr. Fabulous! I know where to look now! Thanks again!"

The God of Destruction felt a shiver run down his spine. How he hated being treated like a lab rat, or a fashion doll for that matter!

Once the pair were free of the doorway, and out of sight of the few people in their particular region of the shopping district, they really did run. At full pelt the pair dashed into a dark alley, panting and leaning against the buildings for support. Finally, after a long, silent pause, the two stood straight up, as if absolutely fine, like nothing in the world had happened. They both adjusted themselves, perfectly calm and perfectly still.

Omega looked over at the ninja. "...Siarnaq?"

The mega man looked at him.

"Let us never speak of that again."

"AFFIRMATIVE."

X X X

Late evening's calm, silent darkness was beginning to float down on the land, covering it with a gentle blanket that heralded the arrival of cool night air soon to follow. Birds sang rarely and in muted tones, their ballads worn from having been sung all throughout the long day. City lights speckled the horizon joyfully, twinkling with all the cheer and gusto of a gathering of children, the muffled noises of transport vehicles echoing throughout the skies.

Omega glanced up at the clean white surface of the hospital, a contemplative expression written clearly on his face. Nonetheless, he stayed for only the briefest of moments, following the shadow mega man inside.

The pair traveled in silence, Omega's face as expressionless as Siarnaq's. He was clearly confused as to the choice of Siarnaq's final destination for the day, but he let his concerns go unvoiced. Surely he would find out soon enough. Halfway up the building, for they had taken the elevator, Omega was suddenly hit by a suspicion. He kept it to himself, following the ninja after the doors opened. Siarnaq stopped briefly to speak with a receptionist on the floor, then continued down a corridor nearby.

The almost halting, timid undertone of Siarnaq's voice may have gone unnoticed by the receptionist, but Omega had clearly caught it due to his familiarity with the introverted man. As they came closer to a partially open door an odd, almost alien display of shyness appeared on the Mega Man's face. Omega kept silent once again, but was intrigued by his behaviour. Siarnaq looked at him. A questioning, apprehensive glance was all Omega needed to know what was being requested. The god of destruction stepped forwards, giving only the briefest of glances into the hospital room, before his suspicions were confirmed. He backed off, nodding to Siarnaq.

"You go on in. I'll stay out here. This is your visit, not mine."

Siarnaq seemed grateful and entered the room, closing the door softly behind him.

Omega waited for ages outside of that room, listening to the sounds of monitoring equipment beeping, patients groaning or speaking quietly, and nurses and doctors discussing the health of their charges in subtle tones. The red demon lost track of time as the day progressed to night, standing outside the room as if the rest of the world had forgotten him. Perhaps he should be grateful, he mused, because in all respects, it had.

The moment he'd looked in the room, he'd recognized the girl from the amusement park fire. She, thankfully, had not returned the favor. Even though he'd only had a glance, he couldn't help but notice the copious amount of bandages that she'd been covered in, or the charred red scarf, now no bigger than a bandanna, tied lovingly around her neck as if it were the most precious possession in the world.

The ticking of a nearby clock was louder than the click of the door as it finally opened, perhaps an hour later, revealing a quiet but happy looking mega man. Siarnaq closed the door noiselessly behind him, awkwardly re-adjusting himself in the peaceful atmosphere of the hospital's hall. Silence reigned between the pair for what seemed like an eternity. Then, the shadow mega man turned to Omega, his voice meek and surprisingly soft.

"...Uh... thanks..."

"For what, waiting?"

"Affirmative..."

The pair looked away from each other. A long pause weighed down upon the pair before Siarnaq finally continued, "She... subject requested... ah... she said I should... that subject Siarnaq should attempt normal conversational functions more frequently."

"Don't force yourself."

Siarnaq looked away, keeping his gaze fixed on a picture hanging up on the wall not too far away, "SUBJECT SIARNAQ IS UNAQUAINTED WITH NORMAL SPEECH PATTERNS... Not used to talking normally... with people other than Model P. Subject Siarnaq is... I am... not trusting enough of others."

Model P, who had gone into the room with Siarnaq, hovered sympathetically around his chosen megaman, comforting his and commending his for his efforts.

"Not necessarily a bad thing."

Siarnaq glanced at Omega, surprised. The red demon didn't blame him, He'd just surprised himself quite frankly. But, regardless, he felt compelled to continue. "Look, I'm probably not the right person to be talking to about trust, but from my own past, I can assure you that trusting people can be synonymous with disaster. I'm sure you have your own ghosts that tell you the same thing. Still, you are a person, you have your own thoughts, so it's useless to try and deny that," Omega shrugged carelessly, silently proclaiming his utter indifference to the world, "personally, I can see where you're coming from. You're a machine, you were built for a purpose. Kind of like me. But we were also given minds Siarnaq. Believe me, I'd love to be an emotionless, mindless robot as much as the next guy, but I'm not. Siarnaq... Look. Maybe I'm rough around the edges to you lot, but that's because I know it's a precious thing to have the freedom to let yourself be who you are. I am who I am, and I'll never deny myself my own life and being. There's nothing wrong with hiding your true self from others, but you just can't hide it from yourself."

Siarnaq seemed to look at Omega in a new respect, his eyes containing curiosity even though his face had resumed its default emotionlessness.

"I want to ask you Siarnaq... do the other mega men trust me?"

Siarnaq seemed to consider things a while before answering. "...Mostly. Yes."

"And do you trust me?"

Once again, silence. Then-

"No."

Omega grinned, a feral, malicious snarl that made Siarnaq and Model P cringe inwardly with primordial fear. "Hah! I wondered! Well then, Siarnaq. You're a smart boy! See? If you tried to be like everyone wants you to be, you know, more_ open_, then maybe you'd trust me more! But you don't. Honestly, I think you're a bit smarter than the rest of the mega men, for the sheer fact that you _don't_ trust me." Omega made a sudden move, a feint towards the door containing the little girl. Siarnaq hadn't realized it was a feint and had immediately placed himself in front of the door protectively. Omega caught his gaze, anger, protectiveness, and a hint of... something else in his eyes.

"Don't even _think_ of touching her!"

"What? Let me guess," Omega smirked, "you suddenly got protective of her? Why, maybe, do you love her? Why else, I wonder, do you feel the need to guard her then?"

Siarnaq looked away, unsure, "I saved her. She seemed... she looked so... subject looked similar to me during a past incident... which I will not speak about." the ninja, although continuing to level Omega with a suspicious gaze, relaxed somewhat once he realized that Omega's movement had been just a bluff. "Maybe I do... love her a bit. As a daughter...? Or maybe as a sibling by situation. No one should have to go through that. Being in a situation where you are totally reliant on others, only to be betrayed and left behind by them. Her parents are dead, she only has an aunt now." Siarnaq spoke with a firm, powerful voice that Omega would never have expected from him. The way the shadow mega man stood announced just how strong the man's sense of purpose had become.

By complete accident, Omega realized, by trying to kill the Model P user, he had only succeeded in making him stronger. If Siarnaq ever found out just who that fiery bat pseudoroid had been that night, he had no doubt he would have to sleep with one eye open, if he could be allowed sleep at all that is. He remembered from reports, back in the days of Neo Arcadia, about how Phantom had never been the best of fighters in one-on-one matches, but...

He was unmatched as an assassin.

While he had no doubt that he could defeat Siarnaq on the battlefield if need be, he realized just how powerful of an enemy he'd potentially made otherwise. And yet, instead of fearing his mistake, he relished it, relished the thrill of an opponent.

Siarnaq, ignorant of Omega's thoughts, continued his own speech despite Omega's apparent lack of reaction, "I know I can't take care of her myself. My situation does not allow that. But I can always visit."

Omega leaned back against the wall, sighing as if some great though had come upon him. "You people, and your love..."

Siarnaq looked curious, mildly surprised by the change of subject.

"Love... what is that? I know what it looks like. It's idiots, doing things that make no sense. Affection, lust, endearment... I've never felt these things. I've never understood them. But I know what they can cause. Nothing but problems!" He glared at the ninja, still positioned in front of the door, "I don't care if you love that girl. Love is so silly. It's worthless. Why do you bother?"

Siarnaq was looking at Omega blankly, concealing his surprise at the mercenary. The red reploid, for once in his life, looked utterly vexed, confused, wondering about the thing he could see before him in the eyes of the other.

"Love... everyone who's felt it swears so strongly by it. People claim it makes them stronger... maybe it does. No, it can't. Love only causes pain, when a loved one dies, betrays, goes away even for a little while... Such a stupid thing. I'm glad I've never felt it."

With that, Omega, who had been musing aloud as though Siarnaq wasn't even there, abruptly got to his feet and started walking down the hall. He turned around to look at the man still in the doorway behind him. "Well, we'd better go back to Legion. You going to stand there forever or what?"

As soon as Siarnaq had stopped his nonplussed blinking, the pair left for Legion. Once they had arrived home, Omega had excused himself to his chambers, proclaiming tiredness, before promptly disappearing from the sight of everyone in Legion.

It was only during the deepest depths of night when he made his next move. Midnight had come and gone but an hour before when he received the news from Viral. Silent as death, he made his way to the courtyard, where he decided to test, carefully, Viral's solution to his problem.

There was pain. There were kinks. Something hadn't worked right. But when he realized just what Viral was planning, he couldn't have cared less about the initial failure.

"Will it work for the others as well?"

"Once I get the system properly working, all you need to do is tell me which combination you'd like, Master, and I could get it set up in a few days!"

"Wonderful. Just, wonderful."

With that, he retreated back to his room, no one the wiser to his and Viral's ploy. The God of Destruction soon fell asleep, malicious joy coursing through him.

Finally, the day was over. It had passed.

And another day passed soon after. And another, and another. Each day calmly disappearing into time like a cloud on the soft blue horizon.

But time wasn't eternal. The days counted down slowly, ever so slowly, many a person eagerly awaiting the same thing. With confidence, nervousness, joy, unease. Counting, ever so slowly, the days left until the biggest event since the fall of the snake of eternity, the ultimate biometal, Ouroboros.

Counting down the days until that event, when the calm of their waiting would cease to exist.

The tournament was approaching.


	32. The tournament

Hey guys, SZC here! This saga of the story is nearly done, believe it or not... Please, read and enjoy, and whether you love it or hate it at the end is up to you to decide...

Thanks very much to my beta readers, Captain Greene, DarkShiftRising, and this last chapter, Aniral, for helping me so much with this fic! It's really appreciated!

It would also seem that the fanfiction site has screwed up my dividers again... But at least it didn't disappear them totally this time. This will be fixed (hopefully) in the next installment of the series.

* * *

Omega was wide awake. Dawn had yet to break upon the cityscape he surveyed from his window, dim lights dotting the landscape like the glimmer of freshly fallen snow. An ethereal glow covered the pristine buildings, highlighting their shapes even though the majority of their forms faded into gray shadows. Streetlights highlighted the golden motes of a slight mist hanging in the pre-dawn atmosphere. Despite the early hour, activity could be seen throughout the city if one looked hard enough. A deliveryman here, a baker of some sort there, even a performer of some kind sprinting down a side street. No doubt about it, there was much more activity than usual in Legion, and that was only in the early hours. Once dawn broke, there would be no lack of frenetic activity in the gleaming city, of that Omega was sure. And for a good reason.

The day of the tournament had almost arrived.

Even as he watched, streets were cordoned off for the use of those attending the festivities, decorations were being hung, roads were being cleaned.

Inside Legion, the level of activity was even more intense, and he suspected it would only worsen as the day wore on. Even though he had contained himself to his room, he could hear the pattering of government employees scrambling to complete their last-minute preparations for the tournament. Omega was glad that he hadn't been important enough in the tournament's planning committee to have to help with the majority of the events. The masters, and several other higher-ups from various governments, had taken all of the responsibility on themselves. He couldn't entirely blame them for that, being governments and all. Besides, even though he'd been on extremely good behavior, he was still considered a suspicious person. Not the kind you want signing all the legal papers, really.

As such, even when dawn had come and gone, Omega stayed out of everyone's way. He finally left his room just before noon, reporting to the Masters as they'd previously discussed during a meeting. Some final confirmations were made before he was shooed out of the way. Despite the rough treatment he didn't fuss, instead leaving for a more peaceful place in Legion. Plans were being made left right and center, things that had been forgotten were being arranged, last minute setbacks were being dealt with, and all the other requirements for such a great event were being made. As he walked down a hall, several camera crews and reporters passed him on their way to the Masters for a report on the situation. An announcement was going to be made regarding the tournament's official opening, and everyone wanted to be there and be the first to hear about it. Well, almost everyone. The staff at Legion had too many problems to deal with to babysit a capable mercenary, resulting in Omega being able to sneak off unnoticed. He neatly slipped into an unused room without anyone the wiser, bringing out a communicator after he'd surveyed the area and assured himself no one was watching.

A few commands on the communicator's data pad later, Scimitar was on the line, a broad, conspiratorial smile riding on his features.

"So, any new things we should know about since your last call?"

Throughout the process of the event's planning, Omega had kept his eyes and ears open to every little detail discussed about it. Security, which companies were being hired for what job, and so on and so forth. He knew that he didn't know everything about the event; more than a few times he'd been shuffled out of the meeting room when one topic or another came up. Nonetheless, he knew enough, and had been keeping the raiders up to date.

"They've switched to a different entertainment group for the Arigae district, but that's about all I've heard on the matter," replied Omega, "how are things on your end?"

"Pretty much the same. The change won't affect anything we've done. Another raider group got caught the other day trying to muss things up, but fortunately they didn't have anything to do with us, so we're still under the radar."

"Good. See you later, then."

The discussion ended. Omega returned to the hall as if nothing had ever happened. After all, it was just one more little phone call that would go unnoticed in the great scheme of things.

The hours were ticking down. The God of Destruction stopped in front of a window and looked solemnly out at the skies, eagerly awaiting, as was everyone else, the event that would, unbeknownst to those of Legion, decide how the future would unfold.

The future... and what lay in store.

Smiling to himself, Omega sauntered through the halls of Legion, helping out where necessary while making preparations of his own. The opening ceremonies were to take place in the evening, as registrations were being taken in up until midnight that day. The fights themselves were starting tomorrow, not that it mattered to him. He would be gone by then.

More time passed. He headed to his room to change, having received his outfit from the eccentric fashion designer just a few days prior. Shivering slightly at the recollection, the Red Demon put it on nonetheless, tying his hair up with a red ribbon and shuffling the black jacket around until it was comfortable, the tails stiffly swaying as he did so. The pants were also black, contrasting the white shirt and the pale ruffles that surrounded his neck and disappeared under the collar of the suit. He grumbled as he stared into a mirror, noting how ridiculous he looked. Armour was always better, but he'd endure this for as long as he had to.

An announcement rang over the PA system. Omega looked up, finished brushing his hair one last time, then set out.

It was time.

The festivities were starting.

X X X

Noise pounded through the windows of the limo as it was driven down the street, signs of a recent parade littered all over the ground. Security personnel watched from the sidelines as the vehicle, along with others like it, were escorted by military vans to their destination, a conference center by the arena where the tournament was to take place. A few crowd members watched impassively while others cheered the small convoy as it traveled. Looking around his surroundings, Omega noted the others in the limo with him. A trio of shrewd men, decked out in extravagant, exotic clothes, quarreled among themselves about the only female occupant in the vehicle, who was ignoring their muttering with barely restrained annoyance.

Atlas, her wild hair combed for once in her life, sat as far away from the other occupants as possible. Despite Pandora and Black's predictions, she had, somehow, miraculously ended up in a dress. With the colouration of a fiery sunset, it was a relatively simple, but effective. Ruffled sleeves ending at her elbow accented a square-cut top, eloquent jewelry delicately highlighting her muscular frame. Her orange bangs, despite their earlier combing, had already started to spring up into their usual sunburst shape, showing her tougher side through the scant traces of makeup on her face.

Atlas growled after a particularly egotistical comment was directed at her, her fists balling up in frustration. Omega's eyebrows shot up at the men, whom had started on the topic of their fellow limo occupants... and, apparently, how disgusted they were that Legion would stick them with a woman.

"I must say, it's rather upsetting that we were given such a weak security detail. I'd have much preferred one of the other Mega Men, really. Perhaps that Aeolus fellow, he seems a cultured fellow."

"Yes yes, but we got this one instead. Pity really, even the addition of the other fighter here doesn't really make up for it. He's an unknown anyways."

"Does Legion not value our contributions to the world's peace, hrrmmm?"

"Too true! If only they'd given us some _real_ fighter for our escort, although I suppose it's only an unnecessary precaution what with _our_ body guards doing all the work."

Now it was Omega's turn to clench his fists. Oh, they had _not_ just said that. He looked over at the fire Mega Man, who was currently glaring out of a window like she was about to murder the next person she saw. No matter how hard she tried to ignore the men in the limo, however, she couldn't completely wave off their remarks, and neither could Omega. He'd had enough of it, and he was pretty sure she had too.

"Now, come on there, Legion has paired you up with some of the best," he started. The three government men glanced over in surprise as if they weren't expecting such a lowly man to attempt to talk to them. Atlas had also glanced over, but more out of curiosity than disrespect.

Omega continued, "We may not look like it, but her and I are both experienced fighters. I know that I, personally, have fought in quite a few battles, and I'm sure she's no different."

"She's a woman, she's hardly capable of being a good fighter," one of them replied.

At first, Omega couldn't believe the comment. How chauvinistic! Even _he_ wasn't that old fashioned, so to speak, and he was at least a few centuries old! It seems he wasn't the only one who couldn't believe what they'd just heard. Atlas was grinding her teeth in fury, and the Model F biometal was shrieking in rage from beside its chosen one.

"Oi, that's it! If I hear anything from those chumps one more time-! Ooh! No one gets away with saying that to ya while I'm around! Dangit, why'd we have to get stuck guarding these losers anyways!"

Atlas looked like she was about to agree, but let out a huff and turned to Omega. "You've been in a battle? How big?" she asked eagerly. She was rapt with attention, glad of an excuse to turn away from the three other men.

Omega humored her gladly, "I've been in several. Ah, pretty darn big, I have to say. You?"

"I was one of the soldiers involved with the fall of New Arkana. I don't know if you heard of it... it wasn't pretty."

A haughty snort rose from one of the flamboyantly dressed men, "Well no wonder Arkana fell if they were employing women."

The Red Demon ignored the other man's comment, "No I haven't. What went on with it?"

Atlas frowned, touching her side unconsciously, "It was a maverick attack. Budding nation and all that, we never really stood a chance. Ten to one it was, I swear, and I didn't have Model F at the time either."

"Outnumbered? Ouch. Never fun," Omega replied, briefly glancing at Model F and remembering his last fight with the enthusiastic fighter it was based on. No, being outnumbered was never fun.

"So you were involved in some fights too? Were you a soldier or something as well?" inquired the female, her demeanor calming down somewhat once she realized she had someone of similar interests to talk to.

"Kind of. Well, I guess so, I technically was a soldier, although not in any official military," he replied.

"Cool. What was it like for you?"

"Pretty good. Lots of missions, mostly involving blowing up something or beating down someone's pathetic little group. I never considered it a proper battle unless there was a heap of corpses around." He grinned, conveniently neglecting to mention that most of those missions had been solo.

"Tell me about it! A lot of people go on about how 'oh, this fight was so scary' or 'that battle was so intense'! Those aren't proper fights! Nowadays people throw two recruits without a day's worth of training out in an arena and call the resulting slap-fest an epic battle for the history books! Tchah!" she scowled.

"Oh lord, new recruits! Back where I come from, you weren't off the 'new recruit's list' until you had over a hundred notches on your belt," Omega remarked.

"That many? Wow."

One of the other men, who was apparently feeling put out by being ignored, decided to try and prove his own worth in the situation,, "Harrumph! Drivel, I must say! How does any amount of notches on one's clothing article translate to fighting proficiency, hmm?"

The man's companions laughed. The two warriors looked at each before breaking out in grins. Oh, they were dealing with some greenhorns!

As such, the final leg of the journey consisted of the mercenary and the Mega Man exchanging notes on some of their more fantastically gory war stories (Omega, of course, being careful not to go too far overboard by revealing anything). Their traveling companions faces slowly became more and more pale as the discussion progressed. When they reached their destination, the duo had to restrain from laughing when the other three practically jumped out of the car and ran for safety.

"That'll teach 'em," Model F crowed smugly.

As the pair trudged towards the conference hall, Atlas spoke up quietly, "I never knew you had such a history. You've got some stories that put mine to shame!"

"Nah, I was just exaggerating a bit," Omega waved the compliment off casually. Well, he had been exaggerating a little bit... on how little he'd done, at any rate.

"Of course. That's a soldiers duty, to do a little work fighting and a lot of work storytelling! Hah hah hah!" She laughed, "Well, that's what one of my old buddies used to say at least, may he rest in peace. Tch, you know, so many of the other Mega Men have never seen a real fight. I mean, Siarnaq and maybe Aeolus were in some fights, and Black and White definitely, but none of them have really seen anything wide-scale except for the Ouroboros incident. Apart from the siblings, I think I'm actually the only one who's gotten into a huge scrap with more 'n one army going at it."

Omega gazed over, interested in the direction the conversation was going as she sighed resignedly, "Ya know, none of them really get it. Thetis is a bloody whiny little baby who's spoiled beyond belief, all he wants just stuff about the environment, Aeolus is a stuck-up prick who's so concerned about rules and shit, and Vent and Aile are so freakin' strong yet they don't fight 'cause they're scared they're gonna hurt someone! It's same with the Model A guys, only those two could never be serious about anything if their lives depended on it. The only two who I think had any real experience with big battles are those siblings, White and Black, yet those two go on like they never want to fight again, like they're scared of battling, you know?" she scratched the back of her neck, snorting tiredly, "I sometimes think I'm the only one who know how much fun a fight can be. You understand me? Those others, they're all about peace and whatnot, but peace is so boring! I like a good fight every now and then. There's nothing like it, and... I really can't begin to say how frustrating it is dealing with them, I can never get one of them to train with me, and they're the only ones strong enough really..."

Omega looked over at her, "Maybe you should have asked me to fight with you. Did you ever think of that?"

"I dunno... Blah! I just..." she shied away, making Omega wonder about the behavior. Perhaps Siarnaq wasn't the only one who distrusted him? Or maybe she didn't know his strengths and didn't want to risk being upstaged by him? Whatever the reason, she didn't seem to be hinting at it. Therefore Omega decided to change the subject.

"So, what do you think about this tournament anyways?"

"Oh? That?" she looked up, a grin on her face, "I think it's awesome! I entered in it as soon as I could. Some people have teams for the tournament, 'cause you know, some people work better in groups, but the Masters figured a Mega Man was strong enough to fight on their own."

Omega nodded knowingly, "Ah, just like any psuedoroid entrants, right?"

"Exactly!"

The two continued their idle banter for a while until they were inside the lobby. Beautiful decorations adorned the walls and hung from the ceiling, opulent displays showcasing the wealth and power to all who saw them. In among the crowds of government members, foreign dignitaries and famous celebrities were security members, often in pairs, glancing around the room with all the intensity of an eagle on the hunt. Less obvious then these security members were disguised bodyguards, and even though Omega couldn't pinpoint every one, he knew they were there, the occasional, out-of-place twitch of one person or the surveying eyes of another hinting they were there among the crowd just like he was.

Small conversations came to an abrupt halt when the doors to a great hall were opened. Those attending the ceremonies were ushered into the room gently. At one end of the vast expanse was an area for refreshments, food lined up for a smorgasbord wafting steam from just under stainless steel covers. Tables covered the half of the room nearest the food, expensive cutlery and cloth spread across their surfaces. The other part of the hall was cleared of any obstructions, open for dancing most likely, as a small stage in the corner had bleachers of musicians sat upon it. Currently these magicians were playing a relaxing background tune as people entered, but from the presence of the Master Thomas on the stage, Omega presumed that the music was only going to last a little while longer. The only other thing immediately noticeable about the hall was that the long wall opposite the stage was, in fact, a window, several stories up and displaying the elegant scenery of the city during the evening. Many security men were positioned along this window for obvious reasons.

The background music died down. Omega glanced over at the stage from his current location, a shadowed corner nearby some tables filled with gourmet appetizers. Thomas began to speak, "Friends and allies of Legion, I welcome you to the opening festivities of our fighting tournament! We thank all who are in attendance today, especially those who helped organize the festivities. While, no doubt, this is not the only celebration that will occur tonight, I am pleased to welcome you to the official tournament reception. Without further ado, let the merriment begin!"

With all the enthusiasm of a herd of turtles, the crowd began to socialize. Omega was hard put not to strangle someone out of sheer boredom. There were people dancing to slow music, casual conversations starting up between dance partners and observers alike. Some others hung around the buffet tables while the rest either slunk around in corners, like him, or viewed the city through the large window.

He sighed. An hour passed in relative peace, the dull murmur of the crowd and the elegant rhythm of the band merging together to form the mind-dulling anthem of high class parties. With nothing more interesting to do, he had devoted his attentions to unraveling the monotonous dance steps of those circling about the floor. One two, a step there, three four a twirl, and so on. Although he couldn't translate the dances, he at least began to understand the basic steps. And what he didn't know, he could see that some others were struggling with as well. Whenever that happened, a quick look at what everyone else was doing would solve the problem immediately.

Overall a simple, mind-draining, _dull _affair.

Realizing that it wasn't getting him very far to try and observe the dancers, he instead gazed at a diagram of floor plan for the building, barely hidden behind a curtain. This too was a needless endeavor, he'd already memorized the floor plan thanks to his involvement with the tournament planning committee, but he feared that if he didn't find something else to do soon he might snap. A few necks, preferably.

Fortunately for the partygoers, a slight tap on his shoulder stopped his less than wholesome thoughts. He turned around to see who had interrupted his ideas only to find an attractive-looking woman stuttering nervously in front of him. She wore a sparkling white dress with short sleeves and a long skirt, accented with blue in various places. It took a few moments for things to click in his mind.

"White?"

Pandora looked up, a shy smile upon her blushing features. Really, he mused inwardly, whomever had done her makeup had done a good job. "H-hello... Uhm... may I ask you something?"

Omega looked around quickly, then gave her a smile and spoke, "Why certainly!"

"I was wondering if you'd like this dance."

The question took him aback almost as much as it did Pandora. Perhaps she wasn't expecting to have finally gotten it out so calmly. Certainly he hadn't. Actually, he hadn't expected that question in the first place! "Well, uhm... I'm not very good at dancing, really..."

"It's okay! I-I know this one, I can help if you'd like. It's very simple, really! That's why I wanted this dance in particular..." she replied, fiddling with her fingers.

Well. This was one way to allay his boredom.

"Alright then, if you insist."

Pandora, to her credit, managed not to jump for joy at his response. She was very near it however, as was obvious by the way she was beaming. She raised her shoulders proudly before lightly grasping Omega's hand and leading him to the dance floor. They took their positions among the other dancers, perfectly camouflaged among the crowd. It only took a quick glance at everyone else for Omega to figure out the proper starting positions for the dance. Soon enough, just after he had placed his hand on her back, the music began, and so did their waltz. Gentle music wafted past their ears and directed their feet across the floor. They didn't stand out as dancers, but that was perfectly fine with the both of them. They had their own rhythm and grace, one that only the most practiced battlers could have, the pair dancing the song away. Once he had gotten the pattern of things, Omega found himself, strangely, observing his partner.

By society's standards, she couldn't be considered gorgeous. However, she held her own beauty, and personally, he thought she was pleasant enough to look at. Pandora, although not overly confident at first, had gained a quiet boldness once her initial timidity had worn off. He could see her history of fighting peeking through, something which he found intriguing. How could someone so timid suddenly show such confidence?

The pair continued for some time. At one point, the two were distracted by, amazingly enough, Atlas and Siarnaq, who were also waltzing across the ballroom. Pandora smiled, giggling ever so slightly. "Wow, I'd have never thought that those two could hit it off."

"Siarnaq did say the other day that he wanted to try speaking a little more normally. Acting a little more normally too, by the looks of it."

Pandora chuckled.

Soon enough, the dance came to and end. They both gave each other a slight bow before Omega excused himself to the side. Pandora didn't seem to mind. Perhaps she had burned up her wellspring of confidence, or perhaps she was simply satisfied enough for the time being. He wasn't sure himself, deciding not to pursue the issue.

Retreating to his previous corner, Omega couldn't help but glance back at Pandora as he went. The incident had done much more than delay his boredom, it had given him something quite... curious to think about.

Omega looked at her, then looked at a random person in the great hall. Then he looked at another person, and another, and another. Every time he looked at someone, he tried to assess his feelings towards them. No matter how many people he looked at, he realized that every time he looked at someone, his emotions ranged from the barest of annoyance to seething anger. Whether it was a deep-seated hatred for someone he'd never met before, or a mild irritation for someone he'd met a few times, he never felt anything but negative emotions for others. And yet... he looked at Pandora. He felt... nothing? Absolutely nothing. It wasn't a feeling of neutrality however. It was more like there was something missing, and he just couldn't get a hold of it no matter how he tried. Omega tried to summon some sort of anger, or annoyance, or even hatred for her, but the more he tried to relate any of his known emotions to her, the more he realized that none of them fit. It was utterly vexing to him and he spent a good deal of time huddled in the corner trying to puzzle his way though his new dilemma.

As time passed, dusk arrived, gentle golden rays filtering into the ballroom almost horizontally. Those by the window or out on the balcony were treated to a splendid view of the sun regally setting over the cityscape below, silhouettes of buildings standing out with great contrast from the fiery colours painting the sky behind them. The late hour didn't seem to bother those in the hall at all, apart from a few comments about the glorious palette of the sky.

All of this peace was shattered when a few of the patrons at the festivities tensed up suddenly, one or two even reaching to hidden communication devices in their ears. Omega snapped out of his reverie immediately. He knew this was a sign of trouble... a sign he'd been waiting for. Now, it was only a matter of time before-

Out on the balcony, a loud crash reverberated through the hall. Everyone was silent as a green and black striped lump, which had appeared out of nowhere, struggled to its clawed feet.

Iggy scratched the back of her head sheepishly. "Whoops? Was this the right floor? Uh..." She suddenly stiffened once she realized that everyone was staring at her. Omega fought the urge to smack his forehead at the sight.

"Er, uh... oh... uh, Th-th-this isn't the way to the b-bathroom, is it...?"

Silence.

Iggy glanced around the balcony and at the people still inside the hall before she left out a sigh. "Well, all right, that's that botched. But eh, we could all stand around here looking like sissies, or I could just go ahead and say that I'm really not the one you should be worried about right now."

Before anyone could reply, three silhouettes dropped down from above the window and smashed through it, sending shards of glass skittering across the ground. Shrieks arose from the faint of heart, and most of the patrons fled for the doors. Omega managed one glance at the kitsuroids as they began wreaking havoc before he too ran for the exit. Atlas roared over the throng. Omega didn't even need to look back to know she had initiated the counterattack.

As servants and staff directed the flow of partygoers downstairs to the relative safety of the lobby, Omega made his move. He slipped behind a guard, whose attention was taken by the throng of people rushing past each other, dashing away down the hallway. He knew where to go and headed there with all haste, but didn't realize that he was being followed.

Pandora, holding her skirt up and with her feet bare, quietly followed after him.

X X X

The room was dark and bare when he arrived. Dim lighting flickered as he ran into it, shedding his restricting jacket and necktie. Omega nearly yanked his hair out trying to undo the band holding it together, succeeding despite the rough treatment. His eyes darted impatiently to the small veranda connected to the room, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the raiders arranged to pick him up. The plan was simple, yet practically flawless. Attack the main party and the mega men, distract them, while he slipped off to the most unlikely and far away of places in the building to get picked up by a small squad. No one would miss him in the fight or, as long as no one saw him, for a while after. He was quite confident with his escape right up until the moment where Pandora had suddenly pinned him to a wall, furious and confused.

"What is going on! Why did you come here of all places!" she yelled, her eyes wide.

Omega smirked, "Oh? You don't get it? I thought you of all people would recognize what's going on here."

Pandora glared at him, apprehension and anger written all over her face. "What do you mean by that? What's going on, what do you know about all this!"

Omega shoved her off, still grinning, "This is what you call a plot my dear. A backstabbing, conniving little plot to get me out of the paws of the wretched entity called Legion." Pandora gasped in shock at the revelation, as if not expecting such an answer. But really, why not tell her the truth? It would become apparent soon enough.

"Why! Why would you do this? How could you!"

"I'm not some nice little lapdog like everyone seems to assume I am. I have my own agendas and goals! Kissing the boots of the Masters, quite frankly, does not help me with them," he replied, a curious expression appearing on his face, "although I must ask you the same question. Why do you bow down to Legion? Why do you, and the other mega men, see fit to ally yourselves with someone who only holds you back?"

Pandora blinked, her body straightening up once the cold realization set in. "How much do you know about me?"

"Not much, _Pandora_, but I'm actually curious enough to want to know more. Now," he started, "I'd heard a funny little rumor that you were supposed to be dead, _Model W mega man_. Instead you're well and fine, and despite all your power, you're doing nothing more than serving Legion. For what reason?"

Her hands held together tightly, she trembled, "I'm sorry. You seem to be mistaken. Yes, my name is Pandora. But I'm not a mega man. Not any more."

This took Omega by surprise. "Not a mega man?"

"No. Not a mega man. And I wouldn't want to be one ever again. I thought you of all people might understand. You seemed so much like me and... me and Prometheus. My brother. Yes, we had power, but we were being used because of it. If it means my freedom, I'll give up any amount of power!" she said firmly.

Omega growled, "You gave up power? For freedom? What freedom? You can't possibly have that much freedom if you're still catering to Legion's every beck and call!"

"I serve Legion willingly! I gave up that power willingly too, even though I didn't have to! I didn't need it to serve the Masters, so I got rid of that evil strength!"

"You're a fool!" Omega roared. For some reason Pandora's response had angered him deeply. "Power is everything in this world! Those with power decide the fate of themselves, the fate of others! And you just gave it up? For nothing!"

"Not for nothing!" Pandora roared back. Omega was momentarily stunned into submission, "You don't seem to understand, do you? Yes, I had power! But I didn't need it! What I needed was happiness and peace and love, and Legion gave that to me! Why would I need power if I had everything I could ever want? So I gave it up happily!"

"Peace... and happiness... and _love_? Love!" Omega sputtered, not entirely sure how to counter, "so, you gave up your power... you gave up the only way to decide your own fate... for something so trivial as_ love_?"

"Power is _not_ the only way to decide your fate. I have no idea how you could have gotten such a notion, but..." Pandora looked up at him, her eyes wet with some sort of emotion Omega couldn't quite comprehend. "Don't you see? Even though you're a harsh person, and you don't like people, they've still shown you compassion, and love, and tried to help you. Can't you show them this back? Can't you see that... that people love you and want to help you? That they'll forgive you, no matter what you've done in the past?"

Omega had gone unnaturally silent. "They'll forgive me... because they_ love_ me?"

"Yes! Yes they will!"

Omega turned his back to her, facing the window. At first he seemed completely silent, almost as if considering what she'd said. Then his shoulders twitched. And they didn't stop, not even when his soundless breaths turned into low chuckling, then all-out, malicious laughter. "Love me... love _me_! Bwa ha ha... ha haa haa, haa haa haa haa! Who could ever love _me_! Love! Love is such a stupid, pathetic, weak emotion! And you're trying to tell me that it could save me? Pffaaaha ha haa hah ha ha! Oh you're killing me! No one loves me! It's such a silly emotion anyways! Haa haa haa!"

Because of his amusement, he didn't hear what Pandora said next, what she mumbled under her breath. He kept on laughing, until Pandora shouted something at him so stunning that it wrought him cold as stone.

"_I _love you! Omega!"

The atmosphere in the room stilled instantly. Slowly, Omega turned around to the woman behind him, utter shock sculpting his features. Pandora huffed, ever so lightly, watching Omega cautiously. All was quiet.

Then Omega's face creased into an incalculable fury. What came next was so swift that she couldn't even blink.

He hit her.

He moved so quickly that she didn't even register the shocking event until she was halfway across the room, her cheek bright red. It had come so instantaneously she couldn't even tell if it had been a slap or a punch. The next attack took her just as suddenly. Omega bulled into her, grabbing her by the throat and pinning her into the wall so fast that her head met it with a painful crack.

"_How do you know that_!"

"Gck!"

"_How do you know my name! Does anyone else know! DOES ANYONE ELSE KNOW!_"

"Ah! No! Only... me! Aaaaaaahh!" she screamed, Omega squeezing her neck harder.

"You had better be telling me the truth, woman!"

"I am... I am!" she struggled, clutching Omega's arm with her hands in a feeble attempt to make him release his grip.

"Well then. I think you know too much, girlie," he growled.

"P-please! Omega! Please don't... do this! I... I love you, and it's not too... too late for you... to give this up and... and come home!"

"Love! _Love_! Are you still blathering on about that ridiculous emotion! Then let me spell it out for you!" he shrieked, "love is a pathetic, worthless excuse for a feeling that weaklings use to justify themselves, to feel like they're accomplishing something when in reality they're nothing more than worthless specks on the surface of a planet that doesn't need them! Love is useless! Love is pointless! Love is weak! The world is ruled by power, and power alone! There's no room for love! Not in my heart, and not in this world! Power is all that matters! There's no need for something so _useless _as_ love_!" He tightened his grip, Pandora gasping futilely for air. Her hands flitted to his around her neck, but their grasp was getting weaker, weaker...!

"OI! BLONDIE!"

Omega suddenly whirled, dropping Pandora on the ground heavily, where she landed with a _whump_ and did not stir.

"You haven't got time to beat up defenseless girls! Get a move on!" Iggy hollered from the veranda. Omega looked outside at the small vehicle perched just on the edges on the railing. He then glanced back at Pandora, missing the worried look Iggy shot the downed mega man. She seemed as still as when he'd dropped her, so he simply huffed and bolted to the raiders waiting outside, letting them help him into the aerial cruiser.

Despite the anger he'd felt at her arguments, despite the way she knew his name, despite the way she'd prattled on about that useless emotion called love... he still felt the same way about her as he had looking at her in the ballroom, her dress white and immaculate. He felt nothing. Nothing but a void.

The group left, no one bothering to check the body on the floor in their haste to leave. As such, no one noticed when it started moving, or when small, muffled sobs broke free of the tear-stained face of the woman laying hurt and broken in the dark, bare room.

X

Unknown to Omega, Viral had been watching.

The humanoid, shadowy mass of data, still huddled in the darkest corners of the Red Demon's mind, watched the exchange with interest. He saw, through his master's memories and through the events that had transpired in front of his own eyes, the severity of what had occurred. And, even as Omega escaped with the Raiders, joined with their leader, was hailed a powerful warrior and celebrated upon arrival, he saw something that the god did not.

Deep, deep in the God of Destruction's mind, a small, unfelt emotion stirred. But, unlike its previous stirrings, it did not squirm against Weil's programmed bonds with hope or vigour. Instead it screamed, its horrific wailing echoing like a child's, begging to be released, to try and stave Omega from a course he had already taken. It begged to be let go, so that something warm and friendly may heal the tortured heart of the god who'd been denied it by the cruel lord of evil, Weil.

Viral, who had only ever looked at the thing, at everything in fact, with a neutral eye up until this point, made his decisive move.

He struck a monstrous, vicious blow. With a final scream it went silent. Weil's last obedience protocol sprang into action, again hiding _it _away from the rest of Omega's programming so that the god would never know that it had existed. And Viral helped it, adding his own data sequences into the mix.

Viral, for the first time in his life, twisted his face into an expression. A tainted, heartless leer of sadism. "Didn't you hear the master just now, wretch? There's no room for love in this world... Only power.

Power...

I will make sure of it." Viral's insane sneer literally ripped his face open. But as it did, the humanoid figure changed. A terrible transformation occurred, and as the shadowy form shifted the vaguely human shape changed into something draconic and sinister.

"Our... no, _my_ master, will have all the power in the world! I will make sure of it! He will be the most powerful thing in the world! Not a shred of love! Only power! Endless power! Power! Power!

Hee hee hee... haa haa haa! AHAA HAA HAA HAA HAAHAAA HAAA HAAAAA!"


	33. Happy Anniversary

The onset of night was filled with cheers. The city's lights made everything seem sunny and bright, roars of celebration and approval rising from the crowds on the street. Decorations were scattered everywhere one looked, gaudy designs and colours littering the buildings and roads. Music echoed throughout the city while assorted sizes and shapes of balloons floated in the air, some unsecured ones occasionally getting the slip on whatever, or whomever, had held them to the ground.

Despite this, Pandora was in the depths of despair. If anything, it just made things worse, her misery compounded by the fact that the world simply didn't seem to care.

Legion had hushed up the attack as best as they could. No one had been seriously hurt in the incident, which had helped things along greatly. As far as the world in general was concerned, the attack had been botched, the mega men having seen them off easily. Even the guests were convinced of this, no doubt preaching to anyone in their vicinity how they'd survived the event relatively unscathed. But of course, none of them knew the truth, that someone had, in fact, disappeared during the attack. The Masters had made sure of that, not even the unending trickery of the eager media revealing this fact to the world.

But then, even the Masters didn't know exactly _who_ they had just let slip from their grasp.

Perhaps that was why, miraculously, they had accepted her request to be let into his former room. Or maybe because they'd felt pity for her, having just had someone she cared for deeply turn on her so violently. Pandora unconsciously touched her bruised face at the memory, sobs threatening to break through her passive demeanor once again. But no, she couldn't do that. She'd already done that. Instead she steeled herself, breathing in sharply, before opening the former chambers of the God of Destruction.

There was nothing immediately noticeable about it. Not even a speck of dust was out of place in the bland room. The sheets were a little wrinkled, but that was to be expected. Overall, however, there was nothing in the place that so much as hinted about the character of the man who had previously resided in it. Nothing, except the glimmer of a small, inconsequential item tucked underneath the bed as if forgotten in its owner's rush to leave the place for good.

She walked forward, picking it up, and barely muffled a shriek of despair when she realized what it was.

The small, violet coloured stone, its translucent surface carved into a smooth symbol of ill fortune, hung innocently from the carelessly knotted red string she had given him shortly after the neko incident.

Pandora stared at it, her face blank, until suddenly her hand was balled into a fist and determination raged across her features.

She had no idea why he'd kept the string. Out of convenience? Something else? Nor did she have any idea where the symbol was from. But she took it and hung it around her own neck, hiding it beneath her clothes, where it dropped down to dangle in front of her heart. She placed her hand over it for a moment, breathing silently, then turned and left the room.

That was it. This was a turning point. She may be a shy, timid, and quiet person, but never again would anyone see her as delicate. Never again would someone look her in the eyes and dare to think that she was weak. It was time to correct her mistake.

Finding her brother was easy. He was in their room, quiet as a grave in the dead of the night. He looked up when she entered, surprise and concern on his face. "Sis, you okay? What..."

"I have a confession to make," she stated.

Prometheus, whether taken aback by her stern tone or the lack of sorrow on her face, simply sat with all of his attention focused on her.

"Brother, I can't let my feelings cloud my judgment any more. I have to wake up and face the facts. Remember when we went on that mission with Seraph?"

He nodded slowly, unsure of how to respond. However, Pandora prevented him from needing to. "Good. That makes things a bit easier," she replied, sitting down beside him. "Well, that's where I have to start. Remember how we were fighting the Omega guy? How it was just a program, how Seraph said it was probably just a defense protocol? And yet, how he seemed to act like the real Omega had been no better than it, like he was a mindless monster bent on utter destruction? It... it reminded me of what people used to think of _us_. so... when I found out who he was, who he really was, I couldn't help but... I mean, I don't know what I was thinking, but...!"

"Who _who_ was? Who are you talking about?" Prometheus asked, unsettled.

Pandora moved her mouth to speak, but found herself unable to come up with just the right words. For a minute she did nothing but gaze into space. Then, she took out the necklace, showing it to her brother.

"I found this in his room."

Prometheus stared at the object in his palm, cold realization creeping up his spine.

"Sis-!"

"I recognized him later that day. I recognized him from the fight... I just... He, I mean, he was just... I don't know what I was thinking, keeping this a secret! Brother, I'm so sorry! I-!"

"Stop it." Prometheus said, his calm, strong voice cutting through her speech. "I get it sis, don't worry. I understand."

"Brother..."

"What you thought, what you realized, was that he wasn't a mindless monstrosity like what Seraph had told us he was. That he had his own thoughts, and motivations, and desires and fears, that he could remember what he did and what was done and that he was scared to death of doctors. _Doctors_, for crying out loud! That he... that he was a lot like us. Only, I guess, maybe not. Because he isn't ready to let go of the evil in his heart."

"Yes. That's it. That's exactly it. I'm... I'm sorry I kept it from you, though."

Prometheus looked down at the floor, contemplative, "No worries. I don't think you did anything wrong, sis. In fact, you did the right thing. It just... it didn't work out. You just wanted to help him. Sis, you have such a big heart..."

"And that big heart landed us in this situation," she finished firmly. The pair looked at each other.

"...Do you think we should tell someone? Tell Seraph?"

"No. Not if we can't help it. This is my mistake, and I want to fix it. We shouldn't have to rely on the dead, those from cyberspace, to fix the problems of those who are still living. They can deal with the Netherworld, but I want to deal with Omega."

Prometheus smiled, very faintly, but it was there all the same. "Well said, sis."

The two lapsed into silence, comfortable enough, but still heavy with foreboding. Several minutes later, it was Pandora who finally broke through the tense atmosphere. "Brother, I'm going down to the research department to take a look at... _that_."

Prometheus jerked to attention, "Are you sure? Are you serious about that!"

She turned to him, "Yes, yes I am. I've thought about it, I've really though about whether or not I should go back to fighting. And I think the only way I can fix this mess I've helped to make is if I do. You don't have to help me if you don't want to."

Prometheus smirked, then laughed, "Oi oi oi! It's almost like ya don't know me! Do ya really think I'd let my little sister take on a God of Destruction by herself? Besides! Like I'd want to miss out on a fight like that!" He got to his feet offering her a hand, "They've always got a crew down in research no matter what time of day it is. We might as well go check in on them now."

Pandora nodded, then also got up. The two quietly left their quarters, heading silently through the depths of Legion until they had arrived in the basement levels where the research and development facilities were located. After a quick check with the area's security they entered, immediately heading to the room pertaining to their interests. As they arrived they noticed that, surprisingly, Seraph was there, conversing in muted tones with the lead researcher on duty.

"Sorry Dr. Karo, I must break off here for the moment. It seems we have guests," Seraph said loudly before suddenly turning to the siblings, "although, I'd have never expected that it would be you two, especially so late at night!" Seraph mused. Pandora and Prometheus bowed their heads slightly with respect.

The researcher, doctor Karo, spoke"Ah, no worries Seraph. I'm sure the nature of what we were discussing might be best held back from their ears anyways."

"It's quite all right actually. They're a little more knowledgeable than most people," Seraph smiled. "Anyways, what were you two here for?"

"Well," Pandora started, "After these... recent events, my brother and I have finally come to a decision. We're going to go ahead with that idea we had earlier."

Karo made a surprised grunt, "I thought you two had changed your minds and decided against it after all?"

"Well, we've changed our minds again I guess," Prometheus chuffed. "We're down one mercenary now, so sis and I figured it was time to step up to the plate and get back to our roots. We may not have liked fighting after what Albert did to us, but it's time to put the past behind us. Our little misgivings aren't going to help the world in the long run."

Seraph nodded knowingly while Dr. Karo adjusted his glasses. "An honorable decision," said the Cyberspace officer.

"One which wouldn't have been possible without your contributions Doctor," Pandora added, "we still can't thank you enough for coming back out of retirement just to do this for us. We know you prefer your work with cyber-elves, after all."

"Well, ah," the doctor began, "after hearing your story I just couldn't help but be persuaded to assist. You two deserved a break after all. Most of the work was done anyways, all I had to really do was supervise the reconstruction of the bodies."

"He's rather quite good with reploid reconstruction," Seraph added, a secretive twinkle in his eyes. "Anyways, you're sure about this?"

"We are."

"Well then, I suppose I'd better start finalizing a few things," Karo said. He turned around, pressing several buttons on a console, continuing his work even as the protective shutters on a pair of stasis pods opened to reveal their contents to those in attendance. From the outside, very little about the two bodies had really changed. They were still intimidating to behold, as opposite to each other as they were similar, but somehow the bodies looked sharper, more dangerous. However, it wasn't the external changes that mattered. It was the internal changes, the new cores, that made all the difference.

"We'll still need the Master's final confirmations before beginning the procedure of course. The transfers will be a bit complicated too. Like I said last time, we were working on removing the permanent mega-merge, and we'd actually succeeded just before this whole mess with the tournament celebrations had occurred. Of course, everyone was too busy to get you the message, but..." prattled the doctor, who was preoccupied with checking the status of the bodies. Seraph shushed him by placing a hand on his shoulder. Then the angel reploid turned to the siblings, a smile on his face.

"I'm sure I'm not the only one who will be saying this, but I may be the first. Still, a promotion like this deserves such praise. You're no longer the Model W users you were, after all. It's good to have you on our sides! Congratulations to you, Pandora and Prometheus, the Model O mega men!"

X

Omega sat in his new room after a long evening of introduction, back-patting and celebrations. Raiders liked to party it seemed, and very enthusiastically at that. New recruits and old veterans alike had all crowded around him, welcoming him with friendly gestures, alcoholic toasts and copious cheers. He'd found himself rather astounded at their enthusiasm (the kitsuroids themselves hadn't stopped dancing around for the whole event). Was this how every new raider was welcomed onto the ship? He had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't.

But that had all passed. Now it was late night, or very early morning if you were picky. He didn't have a window any more, but he could tell by the extremely dim hall lighting that it was completely black outside, or perhaps a few stars were visible for all he knew. Only the sounds of the ship's engine humming softly, or the occasional clank of a skeleton crew's boots on the metal floor, resounded through the body of the ship. All was quiet.

Omega was awake, not because he was nervous or worried about his new position in life, but because he was still simply getting used to it all. Everything looked different, sounded different, even _smelled_ different. The raider group, called Dark Prophecy from what he'd heard earlier, had none of the laid-back, overconfident and peaceful demeanor that had characterized Legion. No, it was a militaristic group of people, tightly disciplined. Something that metaphorically stroked his fur just the right way. Even so, it would bring about a new pace to his life, and after being lazy as all hell in Legion, it would take a bit of getting used to. Scratching his head idly, he clambered off of his plain yet comfortable bed, looking around his accommodations. It was a bit smaller, yet no less useful than his Legion one had been. The door to his personal, steel-coloured bathroom was next to a dresser filled with multiple copies of the Dark Prophecy uniform, which would be his staple attire for the next little while. Then the bed, of course. Overall a gray theme pervaded the room, bland but functional. He might spruce things up a bit eventually, but for now he was happy enough with things as they were. If necessary he could always request anything he needed, Scimitar had made absolutely sure that he knew that.

Still, Omega was mildly restless after his earlier excitement. He sat on his bed again, pondering various things. In a small fit of random musing, he decided to do a quick system check of himself, running a mental scan out of curiosity. Or rather, having Viral do it for him.

He was mildly surprised to have something of importance come up. Nothing life threatening, or even mildly dangerous, but intriguing nonetheless. However, he was interrupted from his thoughts by the sounds of someone softly walking outside of his door. The Devil Reploid listened curiously, thinking nothing of the action at first. Probably someone just going to their quarters for the night while trying to not disturb anyone already asleep.

For some reason, however, the noises died down in front of his door. A few seconds later, a gentle tapping came from his door.

Curious, and slightly wary, Omega got up and opened it.

Iggy, the iguana pseudoroid, was waiting for him on the other side.

Her striped body was tense but still, twitching ever so slightly as if wanting nothing more to run, but too afraid to move. She was constantly looking side to side suspiciously, her voice low and hurried, "Hey. Can I come in?"

"Sure," replied the Red Demon, concern over the situation immediately arising in his mind.

Far more quietly than should have been possibly, Iggy entered the room, her claws barely even clicking against the floor. As Omega closed the door she finally let out a sigh of relief, hushed as it was. She turned to him, "If anyone asks, I was here to congratulate you personally on joining the crew, okay?"

"All right..." Omega growled, not liking the conspiratorial tone she was using, He made this displeasure clear with his body language, his arms crossed and his muscles tense.

This didn't go unnoticed by the iguana, "Look, I know I'm probably coming off really suspicious here, but I'm gonna just say what I have to say. You saved my life, and I doubt I'll ever be able to fully repay you. But I'm at least going to try. So I'm gonna tell you something. They've got things planned, these raiders. I can't tell you everything because I'm not sure about it myself, but... I've seen enough to know that there's something else going on around here, something I don't like."

Omega frowned, "What do you mean by that?"

Iggy stared at him. He stared right back, and realized with a start that the look in her eye was of the utmost severity and honesty, "I wish I knew. I really do. But there's one thing I do know, and I'm going to tell you it right now. _Trust no one_. Not even me."

And with that she took her bow, leaving as stealthily as she'd come.

Omega, thoroughly disquieted, softly closed the door after she left, locked the door after a second thought, and sat on his bed.

"This is not very good news to have arrive in the middle of the night, is it master?" Viral chimed up solemnly.

"No. It is not," Omega returned, his voice low in volume.

"Well, that news aside, I do have to congratulate you for something else. Not for what you've accomplished today, mind," chimed the program, "I can't really call it a birthday since you technically were never born, but... well, it's the anniversary of when you were made. So, happy anniversary to you, master! Hee hee!"

"Yeah," Omega spoke aloud, his mind in turmoil and his speech carrying a disturbed undertone.

"Happy anniversary to me."

* * *

Fin...?

Hey guys, thanks so much for reading! Happy Anniversary has been a wild ride, for me and hopefully for you, from start to finish, but it's finally reached it's end. But don't worry, the story will continue in the next stage of the saga!

As to why I am cutting this story here, there are a few reasons. First and foremost, I want to change the title. Although I've begun and ended this story on something relevant to the title, "Happy Anniversary", (perhaps in a tacky/cliche manner to boot,) the story won't stay relevant to the title for any longer. Besides, I think something a little more unique will be a nice change of pace. However, that is not the only reason. Besides changing the name, I would also like to change the rating, perhaps. Even for HA, I've switched between a 'T' and a 'M' rating, and all things considered, I believe the second part of this story will be closer to 'M'. I'll start off with a T, but chances are I'm going to have to change it eventually, and if so, I'd like to keep one part in the search bar for new and old readers alike to be able to find.

I have to say though, this story has certainly been an awesome learning experience so far. I know I've had ups and downs, such as with delaying the plot, and especially where original characters like the Gem Gang were concerned, but overall it's been fun. I've discovered that my accidental OCs, such as Teegee, tend to be some of my most popular characters, even though others were much more planned. I'm glad you guys could all enjoy the fashionista so much, and I'm glad I could give you guys one more opportunity to say hi to him with that one shopping chapter. Although why _he's_ the favourite OC so far is beyond me, I love you guys, but sometimes you're so weird...

The story of Omega, however, is nowhere near done. I can only hope that you will all continue to enjoy him and his endeavors. He's been an interesting character to write; a heartless God of Destruction, who loves nothing more than bloodshed, yet who has been denied what he wants for so long. Nonetheless, with the raiders, chances are he'll be able to let loose a little more... but whether or not that will be a good thing is yet to be seen.

After all, with the way things are going, Omega may very well be...

His Own Antagonist...


End file.
